Crimson War
by Shadowthorn2013
Summary: In a post-apocalyptic world, Len fights the company of UTAU that controls the world's weapons, and Crypton, the company that controls the world's water and food supplies. His job is to rid the world of both companies. But when the young, kidnapped daughter of Crypton's head arrives before Len, everything changes. Will he sacrifice his chance to change the war, or her?
1. Chapter 1 - Fourteen

The sky was dyed the same blood-red crimson as usual. The clouds a dark grey, outlined with the usual silvery line. The red sky met the dusty, orange horizon, before blurring into the stretch of sandy desert before me.

I sat on the top of the old skyscraper on the edge of town. It was surrounded by the tops of other, crumbling skyscrapers, so I was pretty much out of view. It never amazed me how this building was still in good condition, and yet no-one gave it so much as a second glance. Sure, it had warning signs on the wire fence surrounding it, apparently once high-voltage, but now the fence was dead, and the building one of the only decent places to sleep on this side of the city.

The year is unknown, assumed to be 2130 by most people. The world ended over twenty years ago. The world ended due a war between two major companies. Crypton, who saw the environment was being threatened, and began to collect plants and animals in their domes, and UTAU, who wanted Crypton's plants and animals for themselves.

They're the only companies left in the world nowadays. Crypton still controls all the water and food in the world; you have to join them if you want to eat something that isn't the wild boar that hang around the edge of the city. UTAU, however, controls all the weapons. They say about 80% of the world's guns and weapons belong to UTAU.

You can either choose power, or safety.

The majority of the human populace is Crypton; as most often see survival as more important than power. However, you'd be surprised by the sheer amount of UTAUs; there are over a hundred in every city.

You may be wondering what side I support. Well, I support neither side. I see them both as an evil; why can't Crypton just share the food and water? And why does UTAU have to kill innocents?

I'm one of the rare no-siders, the people halting the war from picking up again.

If people like me didn't exist, UTAU and Crypton would have no enemies besides each other, therefore going all out to stop each other from existing.

But, because people like me keeping sneaking in and attacking them both; the war can't go fully-fledged. Not that stops us from seeing bombs crashing down into the desert every now and then.

I swung my legs back onto the roof and stood up, leaning on the railing for support before jumping over it.

I headed down the laddering and jumped down when I got to the second floor. I landed on my feet with ease, heading inside the old building.

The building had obviously been ransacked several hundred times, but never settled in. Furniture was turned over, drawers flung open; everything moved except for an old, faded, red rug, that tore at the edges.

I tugged back the carpet, revealing a safe-like door in the floor. When we'd first found it, we'd thought it'd hold something useless; like money. But when we managed to crack the code after three days, we found the most useful you could stumble upon in a city like this; shelter.

I turned the knob three times right, five times left, before twelve times right again, and it opened with ease. I lowered myself through the hole, using my upper body strength. I pulled the carpet back and the safe-door shut, standing in the dark for a few moments.

Then I clapped my hands twice.

The lights flickered on, revealing endless stacks of crates surrounding a churning boiler. This was our safe haven – our home.

And when I say our, I mean my gang's. I never set off to form a gang, it just sort of happened. The three of us live down here, knocking out Cryptons for food and water and killing UTAUs whenever they walk past. Over the years, we've collected a sum of guns, but most of them are faulty.

Sitting on top of one of the crates is the only female of my gang; Gumi Megpoid.

Her spiky green hair stuck off in all directions underneath the goggles she'd stolen from a deceased UTAU hover-craft pilot. Her collared, green shirt fell over her denim skirt, her gun tucked under the frills of her skirt. Her boots almost touched her knees. She was ex-Crypton, having only joined Crypton in the first place to feed her non-sided family. They were killed by UTAU though, and she was barely breathing when I found her. She was foodless, but strong enough to have survived a bullet to the arm and seen her family die. So I took her in.

"You're home early," She remarked.

"Where's Piko?" I asked, completely ignoring her remark. It was true I was the one that usually stayed out hunting UTAUs til the early hours of the morning, but today I just didn't have it in me. Because tomorrow was my fourteenth birthday; my fourteenth year of living in this dreaded world. However, I had only four years worth of memories.

I'd woken up on the side of the street, memory-less, with a full canteen of water, three food packs and two guns in my hands. I also had had a mysterious document, with details of how the war had begun. It was almost like someone had made me purely for the job of ending this dreaded war.

"He's out," Gumi replied, "Probably going after that other street rat gang. They angered him a lot yesterday."

Despite being in my gang, Gumi was peaceful. She'd avoid killing whenever possible, and refused to go hunting down UTAUs, giving herself the job of knocking out Cryptons and bringing home food packs. Piko, however, loved to kill. He had a kind of thirst for blood; had ever since I found him. He was ex-UTAU. One of the few UTAUs without a gun. You see, it's a rule in UTAU, that in a family, only the father recieves a gun. When he dies, the eldest son will inherit it, then passing to the next eldest son. If there's no sons to hand the gun to, the eldest daughter will get it. Piko had had two older brothers and no possible way to kill Cryptons for food. He'd stupidly attacked two older Cryptons in his desperation, who I'd shot. I was going to walk away with the food, but decided to help Piko instead.

"He really needs to work on controlling his temper," I said, "He's usually poker-faced, but the moment you anger him, he's onto you like a bull."

"No kidding," Gumi laughed, "Luckily he's shorter than me."

That was one thing that really annoyed Piko and I; how damn tall Gumi was. We both seemed like midgets standing next to her.

"We all are," I sighed, kicking one of the crates a bit so I could climb up over them and drop down into the small, crated-off area we used for storage. We kept our working guns, food packs and blankets in the small area, and all slept there. Despite the days being very hot, the nights were always freezing to the point of ice. But by dawn, it had all melted away.

"Awww, is short Lenny jealous?" Gumi teased.

"Gumi," I said, giving her a look, "I'm the one with the gun in my hands right now. Shut up."

"Pfft, you wouldn't," Gumi laughed, "If you did, who'd go collect food for you while you're killing off thugs?"

I ignored her, kicking away her gun that lay on the ground and bending down to check our food supplies. Fifteen food packs; each one meal. We were used to rationing to one meal a day, so this would feed us for five days.

"Oi, Len," Gumi said, "Why are you being so distant?"

I sighed, "It's just... Tomorrow's my birthday and all..."

"Oh," Gumi said, "You're concerned you're not going to make it to midnight or something?"

I laughed, "Come off it, Gumi. This is the safest place in the entire city. I'm just... I dunno. I just feel something will happen tomorrow."

"Yeah, you'll be fourteen," Gumi said, before laughing, "Seriously, Len, a bit of calm would do you good."

"I suppose," I sighed, "I really should just chill out, shouldn't I?"

"I know what would help you," Gumi said, as I stepped up onto the crate to get out.

"What?" I asked.

"Go beat the crap out of those street rats Piko's bothering. He probably needs back-up, and - don't deny it - we all know how much you love saving people's asses, you damned hero."

I smiled to myself, "Yeah, I s'pose a bit of violence would cheer me up." I reloaded my guns quickly, before heading up out of the basement.

I headed out of the skyscraper, before slipping under the metallic fence a few metres away from the building. It was never on, so there was absolutely no danger. I headed off down the street. I didn't have to look very long before I found Piko.

"You think you can just come here and kill off two of us, eh, punk?" A man sneered, spitting at the ground. Piko stood with his back to me, his longer, silver hair tied at the end.

"Well, no-one stopped me," Piko shrugged, "So, yeah, I suppose I can."

"Heh, you're just a stupid kid, aren't you?" The man asked, "You think just coz you're close to your manhood you can go around acting all tough?"

Piko had his gun balancing on his finger, as he spinned it.

"How about we play a nice game of Russain Roulette?" Piko asked, "Winner walks away alive."

"You kidding me? You wanna play a game?" The man asked, before laughing. Piko caught his gun, locking off the safety and shooting the man square in the head.

"You lose," Piko said, as the man fell over, his gun falling from his hand.

"Was it really necessary to toy with them for so long?" I asked. Piko turned, his blue eyes meeting mine as he shrugged.

"They pissed me off, what can I say?" Piko said, "Look at this way, least he died laughing."

The pool of crimson circling around the man's head grew, as Piko looked at the dead man. Then back at me.

"You look a mess, Len, everything okay?" Piko asked. Piko was hardly the type you'd expect to have a blood thirst. Had we not been in a war, he'd look like a home-bred genius. High-collar, buttoned-up, light grey shirt with the cuffs folded, a brown belt and formal, black slacks. Not only that, but with his hair casually swept back into its long ponytail, he looked a lot older than he really was.

"I'm fine," I shrugged.

"In other words, you simply don't want to talk about it," Piko said, leaning over by the dead man's body and picking up his gun. He took out the bullets and reloaded his own gun.

"You know me too well," I smiled, before gazing back over to the dead bodies. I didn't enjoy killing, unlike Piko. I saw it necessary for UTAUs who would kill off innocents, us and Cryptons, who were our only food supply. In some ways, Piko sickened me.

"I won't pester you," Piko said, "Coz I know you won't give me the answer. Well, I'm all done, let's head back, shall we?"

I nodded, as we both headed back to the building. The sky was beginning to blacken, so we hurried under the fence and back into the building, before pushing open the safe door and dropping down. Gumi tapped her imaginary watch.

"Took you long enough," Gumi scolded.

"Sorry, mum, I was out playing with my friends," Piko said, hopping over the side of the crates, his hair flapping out behind him.

"And I was out getting ice-cream," I joked, leaping over the crates too. Gumi was seventeen, older than both Piko and I. Yet, I was the leader of the gang, despite being the youngest. Supposedly, I was the strongest. Physically stronger than Gumi and emotionally stronger than Piko. That, and I was the one that saved their butts.

Gumi dropped into our small area with elegance, avoiding Piko and I's heads. She handed us both a food pack, which we greedily tore open.

None of the food packs ever looked appeasing; most of them were a sort of mashed potato mixed with green vegetables; and only a few had meat chunks in them. Sometimes we got fruit salad packs, which we all shared and savoured on special days.

I shoved the green mash into my mouth messily, but making sure none of it was wasted. I licked my fingers three times, before cleaning my teeth with my tongue; wanting to make sure every single crumb was in my stomach.

"Oh, wow, I didn't realise how hungry I was," I groaned, leaning back and patting my stomach. Gumi was daintily eating hers, whereas Piko shoved it into his mouth just as I had.

"You guys know that the slower you eat, the more fulfilled you feel, right?" Gumi sighed. We both shrugged.

Piko scrunched up his food pack and shoved it under one of the crates as I had. We both lay down next to each other, yawning.

Gumi giggled, "You two are like brothers, you know."

"What do you mean 'like'?" Piko asked, before grinning, "We are brothers! Isn't that right, Len?"

"You got it Piko," I smiled, before burping. Piko laughed, while Gumi screwed up her nose in disgust.

"That smells, Len," She remarked and I grinned toothily at her.

"You need to put your hair up," Piko remarked, "It's getting lanky."

He was right; my blonde hair was down to my shoulders now. I wore a black vest, pulled over a grey, long-sleeved shirt and tight jeans, held up by a black belt. My uniform was classic UTAU gear, but, personally, I thought it was way more stylish.

I shrugged, "I like it down."

"If you don't put it up, you'll start looking like a girl," Gumi giggled.

"No, worse," Piko said, "A flast-chested girl!"

They both started laughing and I glared at them.

"Oh, ha ha, so funny. You guys crack me up, really." I rolled my eyes, "Gumi, hurry up and finish, it's getting cold and I wanna go to sleep."

"If you guys hug onto each other I'm sure you'll be warm enough," Gumi smiled to herself.

We both rolled our eyes, "Hurry up."

"Fine," She said, throwing aside her empty wrapper and lying on my other side. We tugged up the blankets, edging closer and hitting our heads on the cold, concrete floor. Sleep was never comfortable, but it was the only time you could just stop thinking about the war.

Gumi was so tall, her feet always had to be tucked under the blanket, so I had to bend my legs to make room. Therefore Piko was always uncomfortable and usually grumbled a lot.

"Hey, Len," Piko said, "What are we going to do for your birthday tomorrow?"

I shrugged, "I dunno. Isn't really much we can do."

"I suppose not," Piko shrugged, "Let's just see what happens."

I was dreaming, that was obvious. It was foggy and damp, the floor seemed to be a sinking, black sludge. I pulled my feet out of the sludge, finding it sticks to my feet for a while before breaking off. I awkwardly trudge through the sludge, before looking up.

In front of me is the old porch of a weatherboard house, with a rocking chair out front. In the rocking chair, a girl with blonde hair rocks, her eyes closed, her white, silk dress falling over the edge of the rocking chair. I trudge up the porch steps, shaking off the sludge.

I noticed fo the first time I was wearing shorts and a green hoodie, that was loose. The girl remained asleep, rocking back and forth gently and slowly, as if in time to a lullaby.

Then, her eyes opened slowly, her blue eyes looking at me.

"Len," She said, "You do release tomorrow's the day, don't you?"

I said nothing, my lips feeling stitched together by an invisible thread.

"The day when we finally get to meet," She smiled. I couldn't hear her voice, but I could see her lips moving, and I could understand her. I knew what she was saying, but her voice was absent... Like a mime.

She pushed open the door to the old, weatherboard house, the white frame creaking. I followed her inside.

Suddenly, the house was an old-styled Victorian building; well, on the inside anyway. A high ceiling and tall walls were painted a dull cream, old paintings covering the walls, a long, red carpet on the floor. There were no doors leading off from the hallway, and the people in the paintings were all faceless; all unrecognisable.

"Hurry up, Len," I heard in my head, even though, again, there was no voice saying it. I walked across the carpet, heading to the end of the long stretch of hallway. I pushed open the oak door at the end of the hall and stepped out into a meadow.

I closed the door behind me, looking at the back of the weatherboard house, before stepping off of it. The house simply disappeared, leaving an endless stretch of grassy meadows, with flowers scattered.

"I'll see you here," The girl said, appearing behind me, "In the future, we'll meet here again, okay? After you do what you must."

I nodded briefly, before stepping backwards into sludge. The meadow disappeared, only miles and miles of darkness and sludge left. With that, I fell back into the warm, thick, black sludge...

Two claps echoed in my mind as the lights flicked on. I slowly rose up, Piko and Gumi doing the exact same at my sides. None of us had clapped; someone else was in the basement...

My heartbeat quickened, how did someone find out about this place? Let alone know how to get in an activate the lights?

"Boss," A voice said, "Are you sure this is a safe place to store her-"

"Of course it is, you fool," A deep voice said. I eased up quietly, looking through the crates and seeing a man wearing a black uniform with an UTAU logo on it. He had long, purple hair, pulled into a loose ponytail.

"What if someone finds it?" Another smaller man said. He looked like a crony for the purple-haired guy.

"It took you idiots ages to locate this place," The man sighed, "Besides, you checked upstairs and around; and all the Cryptons are dead. It's impossible for someone to be down here; no-one else knows the combonation."

"What if-"

"Shut your useless mouths and get her down here, already!" The purple-haired man shouted angrilly, "We've taken long enough to find this place, it shouldn't taken this long. We need to lock her in here and call Dr. Leon. Then he can find a way to wake her up safely. Then we can bargain her off to Crypton in exchange for all the supplies we need - the war will surely be ours."

"What's so special about this girl?" One of the cronies asked.

"Didn't I explain it to you on the way here? She's the head of Crypton's daughter. She was cryogenically frozen four years ago and was to be awakened after the war. We infiltrated Crypton's major safes and took her as a hostage." The man explained, then sighed, "You men are so stupid; all liabilities..."

The man clutched the bottom of a long, thin, wooden crate, with a glass door covering it. They lowered it down into the basement, placing it on the floor against the wall.

"Let's get out of here," The purple-haired man coughed into his handerchief, "I'm getting asthma from all the dust in here."

The purple-haired man climbed out, his cronies following him as they slammed the safe door shut. We waited two minutes, before I clapped twice. I sprung over the crates.

"Len, what are you doing?" Piko asked, following me before Gumi.

"If she's the head of Crypton's daughter..." I started, heading over to the box, "Then, with her, we can change the outcome of the war entirely..."


	2. Chapter 2 - The Girl In The Crate

**A/N Sorry about not posting any notes in the previous chapter of Crimson War! Just a few things about Piko's design in the story! **

**He has longer hair, as it works better for his design in this fan fiction. He doesn't have his USB tail (you'll see why in later chapters). **

**I'm so happy that only 24 hours after I uploaded it, I have four readers! Thank you all so much! I hope you stay with this series!**

"Change the war?" Piko asked, as I leaned over the crate which contained the girl.

"Think of it this way," I said, "UTAU needs her to win, yes? For bargaining power over Crypton. Crypton will probably be willing to do anything to get her back too."

"So we sell her off," Piko caught on, "To either UTAU to get weapons, or Crypton for protection and food! That's genius, Len!"

I began to wipe the fog away from the glass door on the crate to get a look at our prisoner.

"What a great birthday present, eh?" Piko said, "The power to win the war! A few decisive moves and it's checkmate!"

"I don't like this," Gumi worried, "What if UTAU kills us for taking her? What if Crypton thinks we kidnapped her ourselves! We'd be in lots of trouble then."

I'd stopped listening to them; stopped thinking. I was too busy staring at the familiar, delicate face behind the glass. With closed eyes, thin, blonde eyebrows and long blonde bangs sitting in her face. How her hair fell over her shoulders...

"Isn't it worth the risk?" Piko asked, "We've been dreaming for this for years, Gumi! Worked for three, long years on annihilating the UTAUs!"

"We can't sell her off," I said quietly, under my breath; gazing at the face. Piko and Gumi didn't hear me and continued to debate which course of action was wisest.

"We should definitely sell her off to UTAU," Piko said, "If we get some heavy-duty weapons, we can wipe them out easily, and Crypton will be a piece of cake."

"But who knows what UTAU would do to her!" Gumi fretted, "We should give her back to her father for free. He's probably worried sick!"

"We can't," I spoke up louder, causing them to stop bickering and look to me.

"What do you mean 'we can't'? Can't what?" Piko asked.

"We can't sell her off," I said, looking back down to the glass, "To neither UTAU or Crypton."

"Oh, god, Len, don't tell me you've fallen in love with her," Gumi rolled her eyes, causing Piko to snigger. I ignored her remark.

"She's a human being," I said, "We can't sell off another human. It's just wrong; treating them like they're a produce to be bought."

"Len, are you even listening to yourself?" Piko asked, "She can change the outcome of the war in our favour! She is the key! The end to the war! And you're going to GIVE HER UP?"

"I'M NOT LIKE YOU PIKO!" I yelled, spinning around. Piko fell silent, as my yell echoed through the small basement, walls so close there wasn't much space for the sounds to echo around in.

"Stop playing the hero, Len," Gumi said quietly, "I know you try to be the better person, the one that does no evil; but you kill, we all kill, everyone in this godforsaken world kills. If we hand her over to one of the sides, we can stop the killing."

"No we can't," I said, "People will keep killing no matter what. You know that, Gumi, we all know that-"

"What happened to the hope you gave me?" Gumi asked, "The hope you gave us? Piko and I were both seconds away from death when you found us. You told us, you told us about the old world! The world friends and school and families!" Gumi let out a sob, "That hope kept us alive, Len! D-D-D-Don't you d-d-d-dare go saying there's no hope!"

Gumi began to sob, tears rolling from her eyes. Piko continued to stare blankly at the ground; my thoughts still churning on where I'd seen her face before. A dream? Was it a dream?

"I don't want this girl to be the end of our group," I finally sighed, "We're like a family. We have to make a decision on this; a decision we won't regret."

We all fell silent, before, finally, Gumi spoke up.

"I agree with you both," Gumi said, "I think it's wrong to sell off another human, but the facts are she could completely change the war."

Piko and I looked at each other.

"Then it's a stale mate," I said, "No-one wins."

Piko sighed in defeat, "Look, it's really not my call. I still owe you for saving my life three years back. That will never change. You're free to make the decision as you see wise."

I looked back to the girl, her pretty face perfectly content asleep. Either way, we needed to wake her up and get her out of here; before UTAU came back. But was it safe?

"Rip the door off," Piko said, "If she dies, she dies. UTAU doesn't have any power, and we can just run. If she lives, who knows? We can't exactly wait for UTAU to safely wake her and then rescue her."

I nodded, securing my fingers around the doorframe and leaning back, putting all my strength into ripping it off. The wood tore away from the box and I went flying into a crate from the force, the door falling off uselessly. Steam rose from the box, Piko and Gumi coughing.

"Is she alive?" I asked, sitting up and shielding myself from the steam. Piko stopped coughing, swatting away the steam and kneeling over the box, placing his fingers on her wrist.

"Yeah," He said, "Her pulse is there alright."

He edged back as I stood, the steam clearing. I walked up to the box, looking down at the girl. She was still; her eyes closed, her breathing light. Then, she coughed.

Gumi and Piko crowded around as the girl's eyes opened. She blinked a few times, staring up at us, her brow frowning.

"Where's papa?" She asked. She was obviously taking about the head of Crypton; he was going to awake her after the war was over, according to UTAU. Yet, here she was, awake in front of us.

"Your papa's-" Gumi began, probably already having the clear view of a lie in her head to use the girl to our advantage.

"We have no idea," I interrupted, "Probably back at The Dome."

Crypton's base was a Dome on the last flourishing continent. It's exact location was unknown; but everyone knew it as 'The Dome'. UTAU was rumoured to have it's base on a large hovercraft that floated between three major cities.

Gumi and Piko looked at me with strange expressions.

"I'm not going to lie to you," I said, "We don't work for Crypton, or UTAU. We're no-siders, rebels, street rats, whatever you wish to call us. We work to destroy UTAU and Crypton."

"How did you get a hold of me?" She asked quickly, "Papa said he'd lock me in the highest security vault-"

"We didn't kidnap you," I said, "UTAU did; we just happened to stumble upon you."

A few moments of silence passed. She stared at me with blue eyes, beautiful, familiar blue eyes. They seemed to be searching me for lies.

"What condition is the war in?" She asked after a few moments.

"It's almost fully-fledged," I said, "Bombs and guns are common; Cryptons are being killed left right and centre for food and water supplies. I won't deny killing quite a few Cryptons and lots of UTAUs."

"If you work for neither UTAU or Crypton," She said, "And you wish only to destroy them, why did you awake me?"

I paused for a moment, "If I left you asleep, UTAU would use you to bargain with Crypton. And, honestly, I'd rather Crypton win if anything. At least it won't be madness."

"If you think that way, why don't you just join Crypton?"

"Because," Piko said, "We're not going to be chickens that think that just because they wear a logo and have food, they're perfectly safe. We're not going to be good little kids just to get into The Dome. We're staying out here and suffering for what we believe in."

Silence passed. It seemed that two minutes passed, she was just sitting in the crate, we were just standing. Piko was tensed, whereas Gumi was quite relaxed. I was a mix of both; I didn't see her as a threat, not physically. She was weaponless; knowledgeless too. She had no idea of this city's whereabouts or how it worked; she'd be dead in seconds.

"What are your names?" She asked after a while, standing up in the box.

"Why should we tell you?" Piko asked, "So you can tell your daddy we're good little children for letting you out? That we should be able to come to The Dome-"

"Piko," I stopped him, "Just shut your mouth for once. My name's Len. This is Piko Utatane and Gumi Megpoid."

"My name's Rin Kagamine," The girl explained, "Daugther of Lenka and Rinto Kagamine. I'm named mostly after my father; as I'm his only heir. Since you... "rescued" me, I suppose you have a plan in mind of what you're going to do with me?"

"No," I said, "I refuse to use another human being as produce. You're free to leave this place. If you wish, we will escort you to the nearest Crypton camp where you can send a signal back to go to The Dome. We can also give you a gun and food, but we'll have to blindfold you and leave you in an abandoned building before leavinng you, understandably so you can't come and kill us. It's entirely your choice."

"Len, you never said anything about-"

"We've got more food than ever," I said, "And too many guns to count. We only have to spare her ten bullets and let her get her own prey. If she dies, it's not our fault at all."

Rin stood there, considering her options, before saying slowly, "I can do anything, right? Anything at all? Join UTAU, go back to Crypton, or just wipe the slate."

I nodded. Rin looked to the ground and climbed out of the crate completely, wearing denim jeans and a green and blue chequered shirt. She sighed.

"Do you have a knife?" She asked. We all looked at each other in surprise. I nodded, climbing over the crates and grabbing one of the knives that came with the food packs. I climbed back over, handing it to her.

She bunched up her hair, slicing off the ends of her bangs; the golden curls falling to the floor in a pile. We gaped at her.

"Ah, that's better," She said, "It's always so hot; I just can't stand having my hair long."

She fluffed up her hair a bit, before cutting off her pants' legs so she wore short shorts, and slicing her shirt a bit.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Well," Rin said, "If I want to live on the streets, I best look a bit ruggard. Otherwise they'll know it's me."

We stared at her, before I said, "Live on the streets?"

She nodded and shrugged, "Honestly, the dainty life back at Crypton never suited me. I've always wanted to roam the streets free; and if papa thinks I'm gone, then I can be completely free."

"Do you want to join us?" I blurted, not knowing why. Gumi and Piko looked at me. Gumi's eyebrows were raised curiously, whereas Piko looked furious.

"Join you?" She asked, "Join your little band of merry men?"

I thought she was making fun of us for a few moments, but her smirk soon turned into a giant grin.

"Of course I would!" She yelled happily, she leapt forward, wrapping her arms around Gumi, Piko and I. Well, mostly around Gumi and I, but Piko got dragged in.

She leant back, smiling broadly, "And, you know what? I'll make you a deal; take down UTAU, and I'll tell you all of Crypton's dirty secrets."

Just as I was about to agree to this, a huge thundering boom echoed in our ears. Piko, Gumi and I fell to the ground instinctively and Rin copied us. The booms continued; UTAU was near.

"GO!" I yelled. Piko lept up immediately, shoving open the hatch and pulling himself out. He helped Gumi up, before relunctantly helping up Rin. I pulled myself up after and shut the safe door, pulling the rug over afterwards before we all head outside.

"Whoa," Rin awed, looking up at the red sky. Clouds of soot were floating down from the fiery explosion, dust and smoke everywhere.

"This isn't good," Piko hissed, "We've been found out-"

"Don't be daft," Gumi said, "They don't know Rin's awake; there's no way they could. Something else is going on."

I gazed down the street, seeing crowds of leather-clad UTAUs flooding towards the centre of the city. Only one thing important was at the middle of the city; the Crypton storage.

"They're raiding the Crypton storage," I said, moments later, another boom filled our ears. We all ducked again, before heading down under the wire fence.

"We need to get out of here," I said, "Look at the mass of UTAUs; even if they're not attacking us yet, we can see just how many of them were hiding out in the city's outskirts alone. We have to leave the city."

"How?" Piko yelled over gunshots from UTAU guns, as the roars of satisfaction came; they'd broken through, "We can't exactly get to the UTAU base and high-jack a hover craft! There's way too many UTAU forces in the city going mad at the moment!"

"We have only one choice," Gumi said, "The desert."

I nodded, grabbing Rin and Piko's wrists. Gumi and I were on the same thinking wave-length. Several times, we'd seem bombs going off in a nearby city; so nearby we could see the explosion clearly; we'd head towards that city. If it was abandoned, we'd have no water or food supplies, if it was full of people, we'd still be in trouble.

"Gumi," I said, "Get the food."

She nodded, dashing back under the fence and heading into the building. I led Piko and Rin into a nearby, crumbling building that still had a roof. We sat there, away from the constant explosions. That's when I saw the purple-haired man and his cronies walking down the street.

"Shit," I cussed. Piko looked up, seeing the men too.

"I have to-"

"No," I cut him off, "If you go back, they'll know we've been using the hide-out, and come after us. Gumi's sneaky, she'll get out."

We waited, our breaths baited. The UTAU gang headed off into the building, simply using the password pad to get passed the fences; they obviously thought they still worked.

"Who are they?" Rin asked.

"The men that kidnapped you," I said, before looking to her. I realized they'd still recognise her; even with short hair and ripped clothes. We had to get her into the desert as soon as possible; but we couldn't leave Gumi and our food supplies.

"Piko," I said, "Start heading off into the desert with Rin. Go west, okay? Gumi and I will catch up if you stop walking at sunset."

"Len, are you sure?" Piko asked.

I nodded quickly, before Piko grabbed Rin's wrist and led her off behind the building. I knelt down, looking over at the building; if Gumi didn't come out of there alive, I'd have to get the food supplies; no matter what the cost. If we both died, Piko would be able to protect Rin. Piko would continue our job; he'd find others.

Then, the gunshot from within the building went off.

**Note: I basically always end the chapter on a cliff-hanger; sorry! I'll try to upload a chapter every day! **


	3. Chapter 3 - Sand Dunes

**A/N: Chapter Three already! I hope you're all enjoying the series! I think it may go for about 11 chapters; one being an epilogue and one being a bonus chapter of Rin's past.**

**Can you please review the story? If you see something wrong with it, please tell me! Sorry about the annoying formatting; I only have WordPad available; which also means there may be spelling/grammar errors. **

The bang reverberated in my head; was that Gumi? Was she dead? I gritted my teeth in apprehension, either the UTAUs would come out, shooting crazily in anger, or Gumi would, with the food and water in her arms.

"Come on, Gumi," I said under my breath. I couldn't help but think back to the first time we met; when she was breathing heavily, when she flinched at my touch and became frightened easily. She was so much stronger now.

Finally, I saw her. She was sprinting out of the building, gun on her skirt's belt, she was running fast. She turned the corner, racing west. I got up, sneaking behind the building, not doubting how the UTAUs would come looking for her. Seconds later, the leather-clad men ran out of the building; guns at the ready, they barked orders to each other, splitting up in search of her. I followed the men heading west from a distance. They wouldn't go into the desert; but there was still quite a stretch of city before the sand. I whipped my two guns from my belt.

There were three men; even if I shot two down, the other could easily shoot me. I'd have to be careful on this. I could see Gumi in the distance, still kicking up her shoes as she sprinted down the old tarmac roads.

I quickly lifted my gun, shooting one of the men in the back. It went straight through the back of his stomach, causing him to spit blood onto the pavement as he fell.

The men quickly spun around, looking at me. The shot instantly. I ducked out of the way, behind a wall. I heard one of the men yell in agony. Gumi was backing me up. I quickly peeked around, seeing one of the men shooting at her, his shoulder bleeding. I lifted my gun and quickly shot the bleeding man in the chest.

He fell over, more blood staining the tarmac. I shot the other man too, who fell instantly. The three men lay in a heap. I eased out of hiding, my hands up so Gumi wouldn't shoot. Gumi lowered her gun from where she stood, her forehead bleeding. She'd been grazed by a bullet, but besides from the bleeding, she seemed fine. She put her gun on her belt as I ran up to her.

"Where are the others?" She asked.

"I told them to head off west and stop moving at sunset; so we better get moving," I said. We sprinted down the road, until the tarmac turned to sand. Sand was harder to run on, but we managed, stumbling occasionally due to holes suddenly appearing.

When the sun started to set, we could see Piko and Rin's silhouettes in the distance. They were walking, but Piko stopped Rin.

"HEY! PIKO! RIN!" I yelled, they turned. I shaded my eyes as I looked at them. They were smiling at us. We sprinted down across the sand, sliding when we had to.

When we got there, Piko and Rin hugged us both, before Piko said, "Do you know how STUPID that was?"

"If I hadn't have gone back, Gumi would be dead-" I started.

"Dammit you worried me!" Piko yelled, completely ignoring me, he hugged us both again. Gumi laughed.

"You're such a worrier, Piko. You should know we're better than that by now." She said, rubbing his hair fondly.

"You guys are like my family! I'm allowed to be worried, jeez." Piko said. Gumi hugged him.

"Silly," She said, "You should know by now that Len and I are stronger than that."

Piko nodded, "So, do we continue walking?"

I shook my head, "It's much too late for that. We'll rest here the night."

Gumi handed out the blankets she took, giving everyone a canteen of water.

"Don't drink it all at once," I advised, "Take some occasionally, when needed. This is, after all, all we have."

I looked to Rin, who had our spare canteen that was only half full.

"Also, Rin, if you run out of water, ask for some," I said, "As yours has less than everyone else."

"I'll be fine," Rin smiled, "I probably have more water in my system; life support is like that."

I nodded, as we set up the blankets. Piko was asleep in instants, not even waiting for the food packs to be handed out. Gumi and I sat on the side of a dune, eating the mash. Rin insisted she was fine.

"One of us should keep guard," Gumi told me, "We can do shifts."

"I'll keep watch tonight," I offered, "After all, I did kind of get us into this mess. We could've just left her and continued on normally."

"Don't be stupid, Len. We've all been waiting for an opportunity like this." Gumi rolled her eyes, "Even if she's just joined us, she has vital information. We just have to keep her alive."

"That reminds me," I said, tearing off a piece of cloth from one of the blankets easily, before dabbing some of my canteen water on it. I wiped the blood from Gumi's forehead.

"Thanks," She smiled. I looked to her finished packet.

"You should get some sleep," I said, "I'll keep watch and wake everyone if something happens."

She nodded, easing under the blankets next to Rin. I perched myself up the sand dune, looking out over the red sand surrounded us for miles. I could still see our old city in the distance; the city all three of us were raised in.

I looked to Rin; where had I seen her before? Gumi and Piko hadn't seemed to have recognised her; so if I saw her picture or something, they hadn't. But there weren't many opportunities for me to have seen something they hadn't. Sure, it may've been in the first year, but I highly doubted that.

It had occured to me several times it may've been a dream; but I never remembered my dreams. So how could I remember her? It didn't change the fact I already knew her face when I saw it. And I somehow knew I had to protect her. Just like I'd somehow known I had to stop the war. Was it the same thing?

Too many questions; I'd never asked this many questions. I always just went by instinct; if you thought too much, it could mean the death of you.

For the first time in years, I started thinking about my family. Gumi, Piko, Rin; they all knew their family. I never did; I never had. In a way, that's why Piko was like my brother; and Gumi like my elder sister. It had always been that way. Despite them both being older than me, I'd been the one to care for them, rescue them. But it never changed the fact that ten years of my life had suddenly vanished; memories of my parents, previous life; all gone.

Sometimes, I even began to doubt whether I was human.

Someone under the blankets starting stirring. I looked down, seeing Rin crawling out.

"What are you doing?" She asked, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Keeping watch," I said simply, "Beastly boars roam these deserts, you know. If they attack us, we're dead."

Rin stretched, yawning, "Sounds boring."

I smiled slightly, "Well, compared to the earlier thrills of today; it is."

Rin crawled over the sand dune and sat next to me, folding her hands in her lap and gazing over the sandy desert.

"You know, I never saw the desert before now," She said, "I was always inside, being raised like a good little girl. Learning to read and write. Learning manners; everything. Papa said when the war was won, I need to appear as a disciplined young lady. Do you know how to write?"

"I used to be able to," I shrugged, "Didn't really see the point and stopped."

Rin slid down on the sand, drawing something with her finger. It seemed like squiggly characters.

"This says Len. L-E-N." She explained. I looked at the squiggly lines; that was my name? She drew another word; I recognised the 'N'.

"This is Rin. R-I-N." She explained, before stepping on it and wiping it away.

"Your babying me?" I asked, raising my eyebrow. She simply smiled.

"What? You saying this all too basic for you?" She smirked, rubbing it out and writing a long word. I recognised an 'E', 'I' and 'L', but that was it.

"Okay, fine, I can't read that," I said. She smiled broadly.

"It says beautiful. B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L." She explained.

"If you just showed me all the letters, I may be able to read a lot more," I offered. She nodded, beginning to write out all the letters in order. As there seemed to be no danger, she kept teaching me how to read and write out the letters for the night, laughing when I did something wrong.

"No, no, that's supposed to be an 'A', not a 'H'." She laughed warmly, changing it. We kneeled in the sand, continuing the lesson. When the sun began to rise, we'd stopped and were lying on the side of the sand dune talking.

"I used to read a lot of books back at Crypton," Rin said, "All sorts of books about the old world; before the war. How people's families used to live in tall sky scrapers, how children used to attend schools to learn how to read, write and do maths. In a way, my old life at Crypton was almost normal. But I hadn't seen other kids my ages' lives... Have you always lived like this?"

"I have no idea, really," I sighed, "I have no memory prior to four years ago. No idea who my parents are, no idea what my life was like."

Rin frowned, propping up on her elbow, "You just... woke up?"

I nodded, "Yeah. And I managed to survive."

"Wow," She said, lying back down and folding her hands under her head, "That must've been hard."

"Life these days is hard," I shrugged, sitting up at the sky lightened, the sun slowly rising in the east behind the city. Rin sat up too, pulling her knees up and leaning on them.

"Wow," She breathed, "That's beautiful."

I looked at the glowing crimson sun, slowly edging up behind the city, rays of orange and yellow bouncing off onto the sand. I'd seen it a million times, as I had sunsets. I realized it must've been her first sunrise; since she always stayed indoors.

"Yeah," I said, "It is."

We sat there, watching the sun rise into the sky. Just sitting there, I somehow felt like I was talking to someone I'd known forever. An old, life-long friend. I closed my eyes, seeing things.

Photographs; well, they seemed like photos. Moments in time; a younger me, younger than I remembered ever being, hugging onto Rin. It was impossible, right? If I belonged in Crypton, and I was a high enough rank to know Rin, they'd never have kicked me out; so how did I have these memories? Were they even memories?

"I mean, I always thought it was beautiful, but I never realized just how much so it is. I suppose I've been too busy worrying about food, water and safety for that." I said.

Rin smiled, "You know, even though you're the youngest in the group, you're the one that holds them together. Without you, they'd be dead, wouldn't they?"

I shrugged, "I don't know. I don't think there's ever a reality in which I wouldn't be there for them."

"You're the one that decided to let me wake up, aren't you?" Rin asked, "If it had been up to either Piko or Gumi, I'd be either dead or being shipped off to either Crypton or UTAU; probably never have seeing this sunrise."

"Yeah, I suppose," I shrugged, "I just did what any other human being would."

"Then there's not many human beings left." Rin said quietly. We just sat there, letting a few moments pass, before Rin quietly murmured, "Thank you. For everything."

She stood up, dusting the sand off her shorts, before sliding down the dune.

"Hey, you two!" She yelled, "Wakey, wakey! We have to hurry up and get to the city!"

Piko groaned in his sleep, whereas Gumi yawned, both stirring. Normally, I'd be tired after spending an entire night up, but something about Rin gave me energy; just as it did Piko and Gumi, who were already up and packing.

Rin skipped ahead, "Let's go!" She yelled happily, her hair bobbing as she went.

"She's crazy," Piko mumbled, trudging behind. Gumi laughed.

"I think she's cute," Gumi said. Rin spun on her heel, skipping backwards, smiling at us. I grabbed the guns, jumping over the dune and running after her.

"Wait up!" I yelled.

"Come catch me, Lenny!" She taunted, skipping as I ran after her. I couldn't help but laugh; it was a game. I'd never played a game before.

I tagged her on the back, "Got ya!" I yelled, before running off again. She laughed, running after me. Gumi laughed, watching us, whereas Piko simply raised his eyebrows. Rin jumped on my back, forcing me into the sand.  
"Got ya," She grinned. I spat out sand, before laughing. Rin got off and offered me her hand. I took it, standing up and tagging her, then sprinting off.

"No fair!" She yelled, racing after me.

By afternoon, we'd made quite a bit of progress, travelling almost two miles. Rin and I were exhausted from racing, and we're getting low on water. Gumi's and Rin had emptied their bottles; Piko shared some of his water with Gumi and I shared mine with Rin, as Piko refused to give her any.

As we slowed at the end of the day, Rin started yawning, but still insisted she wasn't tired and could easily keep watch tonight. Piko offered to do the watch instead, and I appointed him to do so. We founnd a dune to sleep near, and start setting up our blankets.

"Len," Piko said, tapping my shoulder as I lay out blankets. Rin was showing Gumi how to read and write letters by drawing them in the sand.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"I need to speak to you, privately." Piko said, his blue gaze serious. I nodded, walking over the dune with him, yelling to the girls we were going to do a perimetre check.

"What?" I asked, as we circled the area, looking over dunes.

"It's about that girl; Rin," Piko said, turning to me, "When I said it'd be best to ship her off I meant it."

"I know that," I said.

"And I will ship her off at the first chance I get." Piko continued, "To UTAU, for a third of their gun supply."

I froze, looking at Piko, "You're going to do what?"

"A third of the gun supply should be enough to give the Crypton's winning power," Piko said, "And they're so desperate for her, I don't doubt they'll hand her over. She's a liability Len; too carefree. She'll get us all killed."

"Piko-"

"Oi! You two!" Rin yelled, "You standing around gossiping or checking the perimetre?"

Standing on the dune, silhouetted by the crimson sunlight, I knew I couldn't let Piko do that. I knew I couldn't let him ship her off to UTAU; they might do horrible things to her; I've seen some freaks from UTAU before; people used in experiments by their doctor.

"Besides, we're serving up dinner!" Rin shouted, "So hurry up!"

Piko started up the dune.

"Piko, you can't-"

"I let you awake her," Piko said, turning to me, "So I'm going to ship her off."

"No," I said firmly, "You're not."

Piko took out his gun; for a split moment, I thought he was going to kill me, but instead, he gave it to me and lifted my hand, so it was against his forehead.

"Shoot me then," Piko said, "If you don't want her to die by the hands of UTAU, kill me."

**Thank you for your support! Without readers, I wouldn't have the drive to write these! Thank you all so much! Check out my profile for my up-coming fan fictions, and vote for your favourite one! It'll be next one up! **


	4. Chapter 4 - Forwards

**A/N: Thank you all for reading the fourth chapter of Crimson War! I would like to be starting my next fan fiction soon; if you head over to my profile, you can vote for which fan fiction you'd like me to do! If I don't get any votes, I'll be writing my take on CiRCuS MoNSTeR (which is a PikoxGumi fan fiction). **

**The weekend is coming up! I'll probably finish this series on the weekend and begin the next; so please get your votes in! Thank you all for reading!**

"Shoot me then," Piko said, "If you don't want her to die by the hands of UTAU, kill me."

I stared at Piko for a few seconds. His eyes were deadly serious; he was prepared to die by my hands. But I was prepared to kill him. I took the gun from his forehead, handing it to him.

"I couldn't do that to you, Piko," I said, "You know I couldn't. You're my brother."

Piko said nothing, putting his gun on his belt before walking up over the sand dunes. He was going to stick to his word; I knew that. He'd sell her off the first opportunity he got, unless I could change his mind. But he was Piko; the most stubborn person I'd ever known. It wouldn't be easy.

"You guys took ages," Rin scolded, hands on her hips as she tutted.

Piko brushed past her, bumping her with his elbow as he went, before sitting down and grabbing a packet. He shoved it in his mouth as Rin shouted.

"What was that for?"

Piko continued to ignore her, looking down at his packet. I glared at him; why was he feeling the need to do this? Gumi raised her eyebrows, looking at Piko before eating. Rin frowned.

"Look, I'm sorry if I'm a waste of space and resources, but I can't even leave you until we reach the city," Rin said, "If it makes you happy, I'll just leave you all."

"No," I said firmly. Everyone looked at me, Piko's eyes menacing.

"No?" Rin asked, "I thought you said I was free to do as I please?"

"You're one of us now," I said, smiling, "A part of the group."

Piko's glared at me, scrunching up his finished packet. He threw it to the ground and walked over to me. Suddenly, his fist collided with my cheekbone. I spun, hitting the ground.

"Piko!" Gumi yelled.

"I'm sick of you just going ahead and saying things!" Piko yelled at me, "You were never like this until SHE came along! We used to be a team, Len! All three of us! Making decisions together-"

I got up and punched him back, he stumbled backwards, "Well I'm sick of you being so moppy! Can't you just be thankful for life!? I do heaps for you! You'd be dead without me, so show some respect!"

"RESPECT?! I'VE SAVED YOUR LIFE COUNTLESS AMOUNTS OF TIME! I NEED RESPECT TOO!" Piko tackled to me to ground as we thrashed, fists colliding into skulls, trying to get a grip around the other's throat.

"Len! Piko! Stop!" Gumi cried, trying to grab one of us. In the madness of trying to hurt each other, we kicked Gumi.

"Ow!" She yelped, jumping back. We both stopped immediately, looking up at Gumi. I got up, closing my eyes for a few seconds.

"If you feel that way, Piko, maybe you should just leave when we get to the city."

Gumi gaped at me, "Len... You can't be serious..."

"He's caused us enough trouble," I said, "It's about time he just left."

"Fine," Piko said, "When we get to the next city, I'll go my separate ways," Piko said, before spitting, "Brother."

-Time Skip-

Next Day

Despite our argument, Piko had stayed up the entire night keeping watch. As we walked, I said nothing. Gumi kept pleading with Piko to stay, and me to apologise. We ignored her, even when she cried. Rin stayed silent, seeing it wasn't her time to talk. I could tell from the way she stared at her feet, she felt it was her fault. I wanted to tell her it wasn't, but I was too furious with Piko. How could he make her feel this way?

I didn't know why, but I felt protective of Rin; I felt I had to do everything in my power to keep her safe; physically and mentally. I never felt that about Piko or Gumi; even though they are - were - my family. Piko isn't my brother; not anymore.

Rin shuffled closer to me, poking me with her finger.

"Tag," She smiled. I smiled back, but neither of us made any attempt of running. We just trudged, kicking up sand. As easy as Rin was to be around, how she made me feel normal, I just couldn't bring myself to be like that. I'd just told my best friend - my brother - to leave. I'd never forgive myself, but I could never forgive him either.

Rin walked beside me, and somehow, that made me feel better. I must be insane; to feel this sort of thing in the middle of the war, but, for some reason, I wanted her to squeeze my hand, give me a hug; anything. I just wanted her to touch and comfort me.

As if reading my thoughts, her fingers squeezed mine. I looked at her and she smiled warmly. I smiled half-heartedly back, feeling slightly better.

Then, she gasped. I looked up and stopped in my tracks. In the distance were looming, grey skyscrapers. We'd found it; the next city. Rin grabbed my hand and pulled me along, running.

"Come on! Hurry up you two!" She yelled. Piko and Gumi both began to run. I tightened my fingers around Rin's hand as we ran, kicking up sand behind us. I smiled, we'd found it, we were alive.

We stopped the moment our feet hit tarmac. We were here; alive. The question was, was the place deserted? If it was, we'd have to go back.

"Hey, girly," A voice said. I turned, seeing a man coming out of an alley. Rin tensed at my side.

"How 'bout you come for a play with us?" Another man asked, emerging after him. They were UTAU; but they had canteens and food packs on them. Well-fed UTAUs.

"How 'bout no?" Rin offered. One of the men shot at the air, causing her to wince.

"If you don't, we'll blast your pretty boyfriend's head off-"

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"I said-"

"I know what you said," I said, taking out my guns, "But I'm just wondering why the hell you think you can."

I pulled the trigger, the bullet whizzing through the second man's skull. He fell backwards. The first man smirked at me.

"You really think I'm afraid of you? I can just shoot you." He said, "Right now-" The bullet passed through his chest.

Rin looked like she was going to be sick by the piles of blood circling around the men.

"Jeez, Len. You've only been here five seconds and you've already killed someone," Gumi said, coming up behind us, her nose screwed up. Piko instinctively collected the water bottles, food packs and guns; emptying the bullets and tossing away the useless guns.

Piko dropped the stuff into my hands, "Your kill." He said simply.

I said nothing.

"I'll be going now," Piko said, "You guys go find somewhere safe to stay. Don't go getting yourself killed, Gumi."

Gumi flung her arms around Piko, hugging him tightly. She sobbed, tears falling from her eyes and staining Piko's grey shirt. He hugged her back.

"Piko," I sighed finally, "You know, you don't have to go. I'm sorry about everything that's happened lately, but we can only go forwards."

Piko looked at me, "Len. I know that. You told me that three years ago, remember? When I found my parents dead, you told me we can only move forwards. And I'll never forget that. I'll never forget the times we've had. But we're too different; you guys are peace-seekers, I've never seeked peace; I've only ever seeked revenge. I'm just getting in your ways."

Piko turned his back on us and began to walk off into the distance.

"Piko, wait!" I yelled. He stopped, turning back and looking at me. His blue eyes questioning.

"I- we're still brothers... Right?" I asked. Piko simply smiled back, before turning and walking away. Gumi was still sobbing, as Piko waved to us over his shoulder. I sighed.

"We have to find a place to stay," I said, "Let's go."

As we walked off down an opposite street, Gumi's sobs finally settled. Rin was still silent, walking beside us the entire time. I had no idea what would become of us; or Piko, but how could I? There's no way of predicting the future, and no use dwelling on the past:

We can only go forwards.

**I ended on a cliff-hanger. AGAIN. I can promise you all now; this is not the last you'll see of Piko! In fact, quite soon, another major character will be taking Piko's place! **

**Look forward to it! **


	5. Chapter 5 - Twin Tails

**A/N: Chapter five already! (I need a life... lol). In this chapter, a new major character is added to the story (you may've already guessed from the chapter's title). This new character won't quite be able to fit in Piko's place, as he left Len with quite a few memories, but I'm sure you'll all enjoy their spunk!**

**Enjoy the chapter! Remember: All favourites, reviews and follows are highly appreciated! I will reply to any reviews written!**

_"I'm scared, where are my brothers?" _

_"I don't know, but I promise I'll take care of you. If you want, I can become your brother."_

I shuffled across the tarmac; we'd already visited five skyscrapers and slept in one. It wasn't very secure though; we were lucky to be alive the next morning. None of the skyscrapers near the city's entrance had been stable, so we'd passed the Crypton camp and UTAU base searching for a suitable skyscraper to live in. It had been only a day since Piko left, yet I found myself worrying for him.

_"Jeez, you're the older one, yet I'm like the older brother." _

_"I'm sorry." _

_"Hey, it's okay, please don't cry. We're brothers, okay? No matter what, we're brothers."_

I kicked the pavement, wanting to hit something, or kill someone, or just yell. I missed Piko; that was true. He was my brother, yet I'd made him leave. The guilt in my stomach knotted tighter and tighter every moment.

"Len," Rin said softly, bringing my attention back. I realized I had tears in my eyes and flushed in embarrassment. She simply smiled, squeezing my fingers.

"It's okay, you're allowed to feel this way," She said quietly, "It's what makes you human."

I nodded, sighing and kicking the tarmac.

"Hey, what about this one?" Gumi asked, pointing to a skyscraper two buildings away from us. It was pretty much intact, with a roof and bottom floor. The third and second floors had a gaping hole in them, but besides from that, it looked sturdy.

"It looks good from the outside," I said, "But look; there's two UTAUs guarding the entrance. I think someone already has it."

"I'm sick of walking around," Rin shrugged, pulling her gun from her belt. I hadn't realized someone had given her a gun... It must've been Piko.

"Let's just go in there, shoot them all and take the place as our own," Rin said, grabbing my wrist and dragging me along with her. Gumi raised her eyebrows and followed from a distance.

"You're really prepared to kill these men?" I asked. Rin nodded and shrugged, clicking off the safety on her gun. She crept to the side of the building, raising her gun and pulling the trigger. It was obviously her first time using a gun, yet she managed to get the man in the lower abdomen.

I quickly whipped out my gun, finishing the man off by shooting him in the chest and he raised his own gun. The other man at the entrance turned, shooting at me. Rin pushed me over, the bullet wedging in the wall behind me. How did she see that?

I got up, shooting the man instantly. He collapsed. Rin and I headed over to the men.

"Wait," I told her, taking the bullets from their guns and rummaging through their pockets for food packs and water bottles. As I was going through one of the men's pockets, I yelped.

"What is it?" Rin asked, as I pulled out my hand. A large cut went over the palm of my hand, blood trickling down my hand.

"Ouch," Rin winced, before ripping a bit of her sleeve off. She grabbed my wrist, tightly wrapping the material around my hand. As she did, I couldn't help but stare at her. She was still smiling, her blue eyes focussing on bandaging my arm, her hair falling in her face. She looked back up at me and I flushed red, looking away.

"Let's go," I said, grabbing my guns, wincing as my bloodied palm held the gun.

"Here," Rin said, taking the gun from my bloodied hand, "I'll use two guns. I know I'm not a good a shot as you, but your hand is too damaged."

I nodded. We entered the skyscraper, frowning at the empty building. There was nothing; absolutely nothing. And there was nowhere they could've hid anything.

"It's abandoned?" I said, though it seemed more like a question. I still kept my gun ready though. We snuck around the building, looking for signs of life.

"Looking for me?" A voice asked. We turned, seeing a girl standing the middle of the room. She'd come from literally nowhere. Two long, turquoise pigtails flowed from the back of her head, almost down to her feet. Her blue eyes were narrowed, her blue shirt sleeveless, barely staying on her front. She wore a short skirt, a key chain looping on her belt. She held two guns; one at each of us, a sly smile on her face.

"I dunno," I said, "Who're you?"

"Name's Hatsune. Miku Hatsune. I'm better known as Twin Tails." She explained, "You know? The legendary Twin Tails that rules half the UTAUs in the city?"

"You don't look like an UTAU," I noted.

"Neither do you," She said, "But you have guns, so I assume you are."

"I'm a street rat," I explained, "Neither side. I kill both UTAUs and Cryptons. My aim is to end the war."

She raised her eyebrows, giving me a look, "There's no street rats in this city. We're all either UTAUs or Cryptons."

"We're not from here," I explained, "We walked over from a city in the east."

Hatsune laughed, "You think I'm going to believe that? Why on earth would you do that?"

"For me-" Rin began.

"Shut up!" I hissed, shooting a look to her, she looked slightly hurt, "Please, just don't say anything. Otherwise you'll get hurt."

"Awww, isn't that sweet?" Hatsune smiled, "So you care about this girl, eh, boy?"

She walked over, shoving Rin into the wall and shoving the gun to her head. Hatsune let her fall to the ground on her knees, kicking her in the face. Rin winced, as blood trickled from her nose.

I took out my gun, "Stop."

Hatsune looked at me, aiming my gun at her. She laughed, "Even if you manage to get me, I'll kill her anyway, you do realize that, don't you? The moment I see you squeezing the trigger, the moment I even think you're going to make a move, I squeeze."

She took out her second gun, pointing it to me, "And I can kill you at the same time. You do anything, everyone dies, okay?" Hatsune said simply.

She turned back to Rin, "Now, girly, why did you come here?"

Rin's lips were sealed now that I'd told her to be quiet. Miku grabbed her by the collar, shoving her against the war, smashing the barrel of the gun against her head.

Rin winced, the side of her head reddening. Hatsune pointed the gun back to me.

"Don't try anything boy, I want to know why you're here." She said, "I doubt you supposedly walked across the desert for no reason."

Then Hatsune smiled, "I wonder, are your feelings mutual?" She dropped Rin, heading over to me and kicking me in stomach. I fell down, spitting blood. She kicked me in the head, pushing me to the ground and looking to my hand.

"That looks like it hurts," She smiled. She grabbed my hand, ripping off the cloth and digging her thumb into my palm.

"Stop, please stop," I begged. Her nails dug through the skin, ripping away the flesh. Tears formed in my eyes from the pain.

Then, I heard to click of safety being locked off a gun. Through my blurred vision, I saw Rin holding her gun to Hatsune's head.

"Drop his hand, now." Rin said. Hatsune dropped my hand and I immediately scrambled up, reaching for my canteen. I washed out the dirt in my hand, wincing at the pain.

"You think you're clever?" Hatsune asked, "I have other UTAUs hiding in here, they could kill you at any moment."

Rin fell for the bluff, looking around as Hatsune's head slammed into her nose. I got up, despite the pain in my shin and hand. I lept at Hatsune, shoving her into the wall and punching her with my good hand. She kneed me in the stomach and I stumbled backwards, before spitting blood on her face. She wiped it off, coming at me as I kicked her in the side of her shin. She immediately crumbled. I clicked out my gun, pointing it at her head and breathing deeply.

"You happy?" I asked.

"Shoot me," She said, smiling, "Do it, I dare you."

I pulled the trigger, finding my gun bulletless.

"Ha!" She said, "Sucker!"

I slammed my foot into her nose and she yelped, "Shut your UTAU mouth-"

"You believed me?" She asked, laughing, "You seriously believed I'm UTAU? Of course I'm freaking not! I just manipulate some UTAUs into guarding my doors. I give them food packs!"

That's when I realized she must've been using the guard's outside's gun and switched it with mine; she was bluffing the entire time, she didn't have any bullets. If she had, she'd have shot us the moment we entered.

I smirked, "Good work. You get a gold star for your efforts."

"Oh, that's good," Miku smiled, "It wouldn't be worth dying without a gold star."

Rin handed me one of her working guns, and I looked to Miku. I sighed.

"You're a street rat, right?" I asked.

"I suppose you could call me that," Miku said, "I was kicked out of Crypton for violence. Hated being walked all over."

I removed my foot from her and her eyes widened.

"You're not going to kill me?" She asked. Rin looked at me, frowning too.

"I don't kill fellow street rats," I said. Rin came over to me, ripping off another part of her sleeve, taking my wrist and wrapping it around my hand. I winced as she tied it.

"Sorry," She smiled reassuringly, before turning to Miku who was getting up.

"I kill only UTAU and Crypton," I explained, "We're peace seekers; we want both companies destroyed so there's no power being held."

"If that happens, what will you do?" Miku asked, "Let anyone have food and guns? It'll still be mayhem."

"We'll re-introduce politics," I explained simply, "Build up a proper society, restore buildings, find fertile land to keep growing crops; bring the earth back to how it used to be."

Miku snorted, "I can't believe you idiots. You really think that'll happen? Oh well, I suppose you want to keep this skyscraper for yourself, am I right?"

"We won it fair and square," I shrugged, "So we get it."

Hatsune laughed slightly, "Damn you two, driving me out of my home..."

She rolled her shoulders, "I suppose I'll just go find some UTAUs to use."

She walked out of the skyscraper. We walked out, beckoning Gumi inside. We poked around a bit more, before I found the second room that Miku had probably come from. I pushed on a bit of the wall, and it turned, leaving me on the other side of the wall. The room was full of food packs and water canteens; so many is was unnatural. It seemed like a sort of cellar, with a window that you could use to get outside.

"Girls! Come see this!" I yelled. They both came, gasping at the large pile of food packs.

"Wow," Gumi awed, "This must be half of Crypton's stash!"

Rin handed me the blankets and I set up; happy we'd found such a good place to stay.

-Time Skip-

That Evening

I stirred in my sleep, my eyes opening. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the dull light. Light? Why was it even light?

I got up, tucking my side of the blanket under Gumi, realizing Rin's side was also tucked under her; Rin was up again. I looked up at the window and gasped; moonlight.

A rush of excitement went through me; due to some chemical released into the air a couple of years back, the moon only appears properly once every year; the week before and after, the sky had a sort of glow; that's how Rin had been able to teach me.

I headed up to the rooftop, using the ladder. As I climbed up, I saw Rin leaning against the railing, gazing at the moon. I also heard her singing softly to herself. I'd never heard the song before; then again, I hadn't heard many songs. Her voice was beautiful and soft.

"You sound beautiful," I noted. She spun, looking at me. I could see her cheeks redenning in the moonlight.

"You were just standing there?" She asked. I shrugged, walking over to where she stood. I leaned against the railing next to her. We both looked at the moon.

"It only comes out once a year," I explained.

"That's a shame; it's really quite beautiful," She smiled. We both stood silently for a few moments, looking at the moon, before I said.

"Hey, what song was it that you were singing?" I asked curiously.

"I dunno," She shrugged, "I wrote it a long time ago; never gave it a name."

"Can you teach me it?" I asked. She nodded, and began to sing. She sang a bit before I repeated it. I was surprised by my own voice; never had I thought I could sing like that. We began singing together. Each note perfectly complimented each other, the harmony beautiful. When the song ended, we stayed silent for a while, allowing a few minutes to pass.

"You know," Rin said, "Before papa put me to sleep, I had dreams on what would happen when I woke up."

I laughed, "I suppose you never thought of this."

"You're right, I didn't," She smiled, "I had dreams of being awoken by UTAU; well, they were nightmares, really. Dreams of what the world would be like when I woke up. Heck, I had this one crazy fantasy that a prince would wake me up."

She laughed at herself, "A fantasy that you're classic good-looking prince riding a white stallion would wake me up, take me in his arms and kiss me. How crazy is that?"

She tucked her hair behind her ear, obviously embarrassed.

"Honestly, that's more realistic than some of the things that are real at the moment," I said, trying to reassure her, "I mean, really, this war is completely ridiculous."

Rin smiled to herself, "You know, Len, I thought that human beings died out years ago when the war began; that all that was left was empty shells that cared only for themselves. You proved me wrong."

"You're not an empty shell," I said, "You're warm, loving, kind..."

I flushed, what am I saying? She's just going to look at me weirdly, back away, call me weird...

"Thanks," She smiled brightly, "You know... You're a lot kinder than Piko."

"Everyone's kinder than Piko," I laughed, "It's kind of insulting to compare him to me."

Rin laughed too, "Well, I don't know anyone else to compare you to; unless you want to count Hatsune; and Gumi's one of the kindest souls alive, so..."

"I think Gumi shuns angels in the kindness department." I joked. Rin nodded knowingly.

"Well..." Rin started, "Oh, heck, I don't know." She sighed.

"You don't know what?" I asked.

Rin said nothing, looking to her feet. I kept watching her, waiting for her to respond.

"I don't know how to tell you..." She said quietly.

"Tell me what?" I asked. Moments passed, silence filling the air.

"Out of all my dreams..." Rin said slowly, "The one closest to the truth was the one with a prince..." She started going red, stammering slightly, "E-e-e-except he's n-n-n-not what you'd e-e-e-expect... He's k-k-kind, f-f-funny and g-g-g-good-looking... A-a-a-and if it weren't f-f-f-for him, I wouldn't b-b-be here-"

"Rin," I interrupted. She flushed an even deeper shade of scarlet, looking to her hands on the railing.

"You're not a dumb guy, Len," She sighed, "You know what I'm trying to say."

"You're trying to say I'm your prince," I blurted. A few moments passed. I didn't know if the seconds seemed longer from the tension, or the awkwardness, or the silence. She gave a slight nod.

"If that's true," I said, feeling my confidence rising, "Then I should do something I should've done a long time ago."

She looked up at me as I took her in my arms.

"L-Len," She stammered, flushing bright red. Then I bent down and kissed her.

**I know I'm rushing their romance! But, however, there is a reason! All will be revealed in chapter 10 (hush... patience is key...). **

**I'll be sending out chapter 6 a few hours after this is published; so you won't have to wait long! (I really can't resist cliffhangers xD)**


	6. Chapter 6 - Betrayal

**A/N: I'm finally living up to Romance part in the genre! I'm over half way through the series! I kinda want to hurry up and end, but I kinda don't, lol. **

**I've had over two hundred views (faints) I can't believe it! Thank you all for reading, reviewing, faving and following this story! You guys seriously make my days worth going through :D**

"L-Len," She stammered, flushing bright red. Then I bent down and kissed her. The first thing that hit me was her soft lips; how they felt warm against mine. It barely took her five seconds to respond to my kiss, wrapping her arms around my neck. I wrapped my arms around her, bringing her closer to me.

She rested her hands on my chest, gently kissing me. Somehow, I detached from the moment, pictures racing through my head; vague, unknown pictures...

Then, everything stopped. I heard a bell ringing in the distance, faint, echoing, beautiful. Everything was black, I couldn't feel Rin anymore. I was standing in the middle of empty darkness.

"Len," Rin's voice called. I turned, stepping forward; something thick, black and sticky caught on my leg. It was almost like black sludge. Black sludge...

"Rin!" I called out, stepping forward in the thick sludge, I blinked, three seconds later, a church had appeared in front of me.

"What the?-" I thought aloud, trudging up to the church steps through the thick sludge. I stepped up, shaking the sludge off my black trousers - wait, black trousers?

My clothes had changed; I was wearing a white shirt, black blazer and black trousers; my hair neatly trimmed and slicked back. I frowned, turning to go back into the sludge, but meeting a brick wall instead. I banged into it, falling back.

This was just getting weirder and weirder.

"Len! Come on! We'll be late!" Rin pestered at my side. I turned, seeing her dressed in a neat, frilly, black dress. Then I realized she was younger; around nine. So was I.

She grabbed the cuff of my sleeve, "Jeez, you have no sense of time, do you?"

She pulled me into the church through the large, oak doors. Seats lined the aisles, full of people wearing black. So much black... Was this a funeral? Rin pulled me through to one of the aisles, sitting me down.

"We are gathered here today," It began. Why was I at a funeral when three seconds earlier, I'd been having the best - and only (so far) - kiss of my life?

Then, the church was gone. I was standing in front of Rin, leaning on the roof railing, clutching my head. She looked worried, her hands lightly resting on my shoulders.

"Len, are you okay?" She asked.

"I-" I stopped, "I dunno, it was really weird. We were about nine at some funeral of sorts..."

She froze, "What?"

"Yeah, it was this old church; you were wearing a black dress with frills and everything and-"

"Len, how... How did you know that?" She asked, her eyes filling up with tears, "My mama died when I was nine and I went to her funeral in a black, frilly dress... H-h-h-how did you know?"

I paused, "I don't know. I just saw it when I was kissing you."

We both stood still for a moment.

"Now that I think about it," I said, "I had a dream that was similar; the night before my birthday. You were there too; in this old weatherboard house. We ended up in a meadow and... I dunno."

"There was a weatherboard house at The Dome," Rin explained, "Whenever I could, I'd sneak out and play in the old halls. It was near a meadow."

We stood silent for a while, before Rin said.

"It's like you're... reading my mind..." She said, "If you were present at the funeral... And at the weatherboard house... You're taking the place of my old friend, Luki. He's the only one I ever showed the weatherboard house to; and he came to the funeral with me."

"I dunno," I sighed, "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised; I'm missing ten years; someone could have... done something to me. I don't even know if I'm a human, honestly."

"You're more human than anyone I know," Rin said, wrapping her arms around my neck and planting a kiss on my lips gently, "And if someone has done something to you, hurt you in any way, I will kill them."

I brushed her hair from her eyes, resting my hand on her cheek. The cold night breeze blew around us, as Rin rested her head on my chest.

"Do you miss your dad?" I asked.

"Of course I do," Rin sighed, "He's the only family I have left. My mama was killed by UTAU and I never had any siblings. What about you?"

"I don't know my dad."

"I mean," Rin said, "Do you miss Piko?"

"Of course I do," I said quietly, "He's my brother."

"It's my fault he left," Rin sighed, "If I'd just gone home to Crypton, Piko never would've left..."

"Don't blame yourself," I said, "It's Piko's fault he left; he's Piko, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Besides, you're much cuter than Piko."

Rin laughed, "Nah, Piko's the cutest person in the whole world, Len. I mean, have you seen his cute little pout?"

I laughed too; she was talking about how his bottom lip stuck out slightly when he was displeased; it had always been quite funny.

I rested my cheek against the top of her head, closing my eyes and enjoying holding her. _I won't let Piko do anything to her_.

We stood like that fo ages; eventually, Rin started breathing heavily, asleep. I picked her up, heading down into the back room. I lay her down under the blankets, easing down next to her, my arms laying around her. I closed my eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.

-Time Skip-

Next Day

I woke up later than everyone else. Rin was already up, lecturing Gumi on how to write properly. Gumi asked if she had it right and Rin encouraged her. The two seemed to be getting along.

"What does this say?" Rin asked. She was writing on the floor with dust; there sure was plenty of it.

"Um," Gumi said, pausing for a second, "Well, in letters it's M-O-O-N-L-I-G-H-T. Mon... Moo... Moon... Moonel... No, no..."

"Here's a hint, it's two words combined," Rin smiled enthusiastically. I lay under the blankets, just watching them.

"Oh, okay," Gumi said, "Moon... L... Li... Lig... Lih... Lit... Uh..."

"It is a hard one," Rin said, "You have to combine the letters in the second word."

Gumi nodded, "Well... You've told me 'IGH' can make an 'I' sound... Moonlight?"

"Yay!" Rin cheered, hugging Gumi happily, "You're getting really good at this, Gumi!"

Gumi beamed, "Thank you, Rinny!"

"Rinny?" I smiled.

"Yes, Lenny?" Rin replied sweetly. Gumi laughed. I got up, yawning and stretching sleepily. I got up from under the covers, walking over to the pile of food packs.

"Oi, Len, what are you doing?" Gumi asked.

"I'm hungry," I shrugged, "And we've got enough food here to feed an army."

"A small army," Rin noted, "Or a very hungry Len."

I smiled, ripping the plastic off of the pack and shoving the food into my mouth. Rin shrugged, taking her own pack and eating it too. I burped and Rin laughed, before making a come back with an equally loud burp.

"Honestly," Gumi rolled her eyes, "You two are just kids."

"Tag!" Rin said, tapping my shoulder. She ran out through the doorway and I chased her. I laughed, as she ran outside, her hair streaming after her; but when I exited the building; she was nowhere in sight.

"Oi! Rin!" I yelled, "Where are you?"

"Hi, Len," A voice said coldly from my side, I heard the clicking of a gun, "Throw your guns down."

An UTAU man stood there, a gun pointed directly at my head. Behind him stood two other men; dressed in black UTAU uniforms, holding a wriggling Rin in their arms, a gag in her mouth.

I took my guns from my belt, throwing them to the ground.

"You sure that's all your guns?" The man asked.

"Of course it bloody is, why would I be carrying three-"

"No need to be rude, Len," A voice said, stopping me dead. My heart stopped beating, I stopped breathing; no... I prayed... No...

Standing there was Piko, dressed neatly in a high-collar, UTAU uniform.

"Piko, you bastard," I said through gritted teeth.

"I told you Len," Piko said simply, "That I would sell her off the first chance I got. You had the opportunity to shoot me; you should have."

I balled up my fists at my sides angrily, glaring out the corner of my eye at Piko. He was smiling at me sadistically; just as he always smiled at his victims. He was playing his games with me.

"You can try and attack me if you want, Len," Piko said, "You may win, and hurt me, or lose and die. It's a good old game of Russain Roulette; the loser dies."

"Damn you and your damned games-"

"If you're trying to damn me to hell, that won't do you any good," Piko grinned, "I've already been damned; plenty of times. By my own mother, in fact."

The old lust for blood in Piko's eyes was stronger than ever; he seemed completely insane, no sign of sanity in his eyes. Rin stopped wriggling, becoming still, tears forming in her eyes. I had to stop this.

I shoved the barrel of the gun pointed at me head up, just as the trigger was pulled. The bullet went flying off into the sky. I charged at Piko.

"Bad idea," Piko smiled, pulling out his own gun.

The bang echoed in my ears, Rin's desperate yell, before everything went pitch black.

**Now things are moving along! Yes, Piko has returned (and by popular demand, lol) but probably not in the way you all expected! This chapter is probably - too tired to check - my shortest one yet, hopefully the next few chapters will be longer! Remember:**

**ALL reviews (except mindless hate) are appreciated and replied to! I also appreciate any follows or faves :3**


	7. Chapter 7 - Experiment

**A/N: Warning! If you've found the violence so far unsuitable for yourself, you need to be aware that it only gets more violent from here on out. **

**All the views... I really can't put into words how thankful I am for your constant support! I keep forcing myself to write late at night just for you fans, and have no regrets when I'm tired! It's always worth having just a few people appreciate my work! :3**

Darkness. Everything was pitch-black and soundless, stretching on forever. There was nothing to walk on, nothing to touch, only the emptiness. The eternal oblivion stretched out before me. I wasn't falling, I wasn't standing, I wasn't sitting. I wasn't touching anything. Just floating, in nothingness.

I was the only thing here.

Occasionally, distant echoes broke through the wall of silence; my name, being repeated over and over. Whenever that happened, I felt the cold floor underneath my hands, a sharp pain in my lower, left abdomen, cold blood; it all hurt too much. I'd rather just float in my oblivion. But the longer I stayed here, the more often moments like that broke through.

"LEN!" The cries came, "Len! Wake up!"

The pain stabbed me life a knife, blood rushing up my throat. The cold floor underneath my fists. I was lying in blood, a puddle of blood. Everything was dark though, a dark crimson.

"Len, please, wake up. Please," The voice pleaded, shaking my shoulder, "WAKE UP, DAMMIT!"

Then I slipped back into the oblivion; everything becoming silent and still again; I liked it here. Alone. Quiet. No war, no pain. Just nothingness. Eternal nothingness.

"You can't stay here forever," A voice said quietly. Then everything hit me at once.

I was awake; lying on the cold, cement floor of the skyscraper. My back arched as I spat blood on the ground, adding more to the already circling pile; not all of it was mine. Two dead UTAUs lay across from me, but I could tell, most of it was mine.

"Oh god, Len," Gumi sobbed, "What did you do you fool!"

"Rin," I coughed, blood dribbling from the side of my mouth and down my chin, "Is she safe?"

"Len, your not ready for that," Gumi said, "Here, drink this."

She tilted a water canteen to my lips. I took large gulps. She wet a piece of cloth, wiping the blood off my forehead. It was simply stains from the blood I'd been lying in.

She lifted up my the bottom of my shirt, wincing.

"How bad is it?" I asked.

"It's not that bad," She lied, dabbing the cloth to the wound. I flinched, wincing at the sting, before relaxing. She wiped the blood away, cleaning the wound.

"The bullet's stuck in there," She said.

"Get it out," I told her firmly.

"That will hurt-"

"Get it out," I repeated, "I don't want to die of an infection."

Gumi pursed her lips, before the pain set in. I yelled in pain as she wiped away the blood, pulling the bullet from the wound as it bled constantly. Tears formed in my eyes, falling down my face. She blocked up the wound with the cloth.

"Hold it there," She instructed. I did as told. She disappeared into the backroom as I looked around. Besides the two dead UTAUs, I didn't see anyone else. Rin was gone; Piko had taken her. I choked, tears streaming down my face. Piko had betrayed me and Rin had been taken; the two closest people in my life...

_If I remove the cloth, I might bleed to death._

Gumi returned an instant later, with a large cloth. She wrapped it around my thin middle; you didn't need much to cover my entire stomach, I was quite underweight. She tightened it, the blood seeking through, but it ultimately stopped the excessive bleeding.

I was still crying, I couldn't help it. Piko was my brother; and I loved Rin. Gumi hugged me tightly, as I cried on her shoulder.

"I saw you two," She said quietly, "On the roof; I saw you and left. You love her, don't you?"

I didn't reply; I didn't need to. My louder sobs told her I did.

"You're blonde girlfriend won't be very happy about this," A voice spoke up in the doorway. Anger spiked through me as I spun around.

"Get out!" I yelled.

"Jeez," Miku rolled her eyes, "I heard gunshots down this way and came to check to see if you were okay. You kinda grew on me."

"Just go," I seethed, "You caused us enough trouble before; I don't want to play your games."

Miku simply smiled lopsidedly, "But you're so fun to play with, blondie."

I tried to get up, but felt a sharp pain in my abdomen. Gumi lowered me down.

"Oh, you got shot," Miku frowned, "What happened?"

"Some UTAUs took a friend of ours," Gumi explained.

"Oh, the blonde girl?" Miku asked, "Why'd they take her?"

"She the head of Crypton's daughter," Gumi explained. I wanted to tell her to shut up; that Miku wasn't the type of person who we wanted to get involved in this.

"Wow, really? That girl's Crypton's princess? Who knew," Miku whistled, quite impressed, "For a princess, she's got balls."

"Just stay out of this, Hatsune," I said.

"Whatever," Miku shrugged, "If it's literally just you two left, you won't get very far in rescuing her."

"Rescuing her?" I laughed, feeling my sanity slipping away, "Are you insane? Even if you had a small army, there's no way you could take down UTAU. And you'd need to take down UTAU to rescue her. You realize that, yeah?"

Miku shrugged again, "I know people, lots of people; other skilled street rats. A lot of them are either ex-Crypton or ex-UTAU. Few are neither. If you begged me, I COULD contact those people using UTAU's radio signals, gather everyone and help you save her."

I stared at her, was she really serious?

"And why would you do that?" I asked, "You've got nothing to gain by rescuing Rin."

"Sure I do," Miku said, "If I help save Crypton's princess and I help take down UTAU, I'll be rewarded highly by Crypton."

"You were kicked out of Crypton-"

"I disagreed with how not everyone could go to The Dome; how most of us were left in the cities with hard lives. So I got violent," Miku shrugged, "Doesn't make me UTAU."

"How many people do you know?" Gumi asked.

"Gumi!" I hissed.

"About seven. With ten highly-skilled people, we're bound to do some damage." Miku said, "Sure, on average, we'll have to kill 100 people each, but... You know, it's worth a shot, right?"

They both looked to me. I could just give up now, give up and die, or I could try and save Rin, try and win the war back. I could change everything, if I could just find the strength.

"Fine," I said, "Send out the signal."

-Time Skip-

Two Days Later

Two days after I'd told Miku to send out the signal, three people were with us. We'd told them to meet us three streets down from the Crypton camp, before collecting them and bringing them here.

Our current members were all a family; a blood-related family.

"My name's Al," The man explained gruffly. His brown hair stuck up in all directions, he wore an UTAU uniform without the labels, obviously having ripped them off a long time ago. He looked brutal, with many scars on his face and hands. He had four guns lined on his belt; I thought it was overkill.

Next to him, sat his wife Ann; well, as close as you can get to a wife. She sat neatly, wearing a black blouse and skirt, she had a gun tucked on her skirt, but besides from that, she looked like something from another time. She smiled politely.

"So, Miku, you sent out a message to everyone saying this is the chance we've been waiting for; the chance to change the war," Al said gruffly, "Care to explain?"

Al and Ann's son, Oliver, sat on the floor, looking at the dust in which Rin once wrote in. His golden eyes kept staring at it for ages. He seemed like one weird kid. He wore shorts and white shirt three sizes too big, staying completely silent. He hadn't even introduced himself, he'd just sat there, playing with the dust.

"You see, we need to infiltrate UTAU and rescue a girl," Miku said, "Her name is Rin Kagamine; Crypton's princess."

Al raised his bushy eyebrows, "Crypton's princess, eh? How'd she manage to get captured by UTAU?"

"We woke her up from a cyrogenic sleep," Gumi explained, "UTAU found us recently and kidnapped her."

That certainly was the short way of putting it.

"You do realize you could've sold her off to Crypton why she was asleep, don't you?" Al said.

"She's a human being!" I yelled, "One our species! You can't sell off a human!"

Al and Ann seemed quite shocked at my outbreak, whereas Oliver looked mildly curious. I sighed, heading off into the back room.

"I'll be revising my reading and writing skills if anyone needs me," I grumbled, pushing against the wall. Instead, though, I just fell into a heap. I couldn't continue like this; I was all over the place, I had to concentrate, get my head clear...

_"Come catch me, Lenny!"_

I sobbed, I couldn't... This was driving me crazy! How did Piko keep it together for so long after her lost the ones he loved?

Piko. Damn him. Just damn him.

"That seems an effective way to learn," A curious voice said behind me. I knew it was Oliver; after all, I hadn't heard the voice before. His voice was surprisingly soft.

"Shut up," I responded.

Oliver sat down beside me, crossing his legs. He didn't say anything else, he just sat there.

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

"You told me to shut up," Oliver said simply.

He didn't have the air of being a smart ass; he was simply taking it literal; in fact, his entrance greeting wasn't sarcastic either. He looked up, his eyes slightly blank.

"Why did your parents bring you?" I asked, "You're what, twelve?"

"Eleven," Oliver corrected, "But you only recently turned fourteen. And Gumi and Miku are barely sixteen. So, really, I have every right to be here; since you've been fighting since you were ten."

Oliver drew circles in the dust.

"Who told you that?" Len asked, inspecting Oliver's circular drawings.

"You did," Oliver said simply. Len frowned.

"No, I didn't-"

"Yes, you did," Oliver said, "Just because you didn't hear yourself say it, doesn't mean you didn't. I heard you loud and clear."

I stared at him; what was he talking about?

"Oh," Oliver said, "So you don't know." He stared at me for a long second, "You haven't even thought about the possibility."

Oliver shrugged, looking back to his circles. They were starting to form a different shape.

"What?"

"Haven't you ever thought there may be others like you?" Oliver asked, "Others that show signs of strange powers, others that have lost ten years of their life?"

I stared at him, "I... Never thought about it."

"Honestly, I have only two years worth of memories. My parents told me everything; well, my so-called parents anyway." Oliver explained, "They said every ten years, my memories would be refreshed; I'd forget everything, lose my personality, everything. That one person would be able to bring back my memories eventually."

"How?" I asked.

Oliver shrugged, "Just by being near me apparently; it's the person who was most important to you in your previous memories."

If this was true, then had I been seeing memories? Did I used to be Rin's friend Luki? If so, how did I end up on the streets?

"Also, I can hear people a long distance away," Oliver said, finishing his circles, that now looked very familiar to me... "I have no control over who and when; it just happens. Half the time, the information is useless, but I managed to hear Miku talking about sending out a signal; so we set off early."

"I can't hear people far away." I frowned.

"Len, have your bullets ever missed?" Oliver asked casually. I thought about it; no, I'd never missed. I could kill someone with one shot, whereas Gumi and Piko often missed.

"No, I suppose not," I said.

"Exactly," Oliver said, "That's your talent."

"My talent? Oliver, I'm not following any of this."

"You will. Eventually," Oliver said, before his head shot up, "Ah, the sisters are here."

Oliver stood up, walking out into the main room, I followed curiously. Standing in the skyscraper entrance were two voluptuous women.

The first women had a short, cropped, brown bob, skin-tight red leggings on her hips and a red jacket fastened up, showing off her slim stomach. Her brown eyes lazily gazed around at us.

The second wore less skin-showing clothes, with a black shirt, jacket and jeans. Her pink hair fell to her waist, her light blue eyes shying away from us. She stood with her hands together behind her rowdy accomplice.

The brown-haired women looked at us, "This all you got, Hatsune?"

"I told you, you're early," Miku rolled her eyes. The brown-haired woman smirked.

"We're not early, everyone else is just late," Her eyes landed on me, "Ooo, who's the blonde boy?"

"I wouldn't try anything," Miku said in an audible stage whisper, "He's a good shot. Not too dumb either."

"You just want him for yourself," The woman smirked.

"Kaito's coming," Miku chirped and the woman rolled her eyes.

"That moron? Jeez. Well, you gonna introduce us or what?"

"Guys, this is Meiko and Luka. The Gun Sisters; well-known for their sneaking and thieving skills. Meiko's the loud one." Miku explained, poking at the brown-haired woman with her thumb.

"That ain't very nice," Meiko glared at Miku, "I can just take my business else where if your gonna be like that."

Miku just rolled her eyes, "Gumi, you explain the plan to them, I'm going out."

"Where?" Gumi asked.

"Just out... To hunt." Miku said. Gumi paled.

"Oh, okay." Gumi gulped, gesturing for Meiko and Luka to make themselves comfortable on the few office chairs we'd found. I noticed Ann and Al had disappeared.

"Where'd Al and Ann go?" I asked Miku as she passed me.

"Off to look for a suitable place to stay on this side of the city," She explained, "If we all sleep in the same building, it'll look suspicious. Ann and Al will be living somewhere nearby whilst Oliver stays with us."

I looked at Oliver, who was sitting in the corner, drawing the same symbol in the dust again. The kid was weird, but he wasn't horrible. He was just quiet, keeping to himself; and, he was just like me. Memory-less.

"Anyone else staying with us?" I asked.

"A few others may when they get here," Miku said, "Probably only one other, since he's coming over from his group of street rats."

For some reason, Miku flushed when saying this, "Anyway, I best get going."

Miku picked up a gun, loading it and heading out. Meiko was responding loudly to whatever Gumi had said, whereas Luka simply nodded her head, showing she understood.

"Heeey! Cutie-pie!" Meiko yelled obnoxiously, "Blonde boy!"

Gumi looked awkward, trying to continuing to explain the plan whilst Meiko was being rowdy. Oliver started smirking from where he sat.

"I'll head out too," I said quickly, but Gumi held out her arm.

"You're not completely healed yet," She said, "If you have to run, it could injure you-"

"Gumi, seriously, I'm not going hunting, I just want to get away from Meiko," I said quietly. Gumi smiled at me.

"Sit on the roof then," She told me. I nodded, heading out.

"Come back, sweetie!" Meiko yelled. I climbed up using the ladder outside, feeling a pang of hurt as I stood on the rooftop, remembering Rin and I's kiss.

_But I'm going to get her back, _I told myself, _so there's no need to feel like this._

I leant against the railing, looking up at the same old crimson sky. I'd always found it horrible; the blood red colour; but Rin found it beautiful; she found everything beautiful. She always saw the best in everything; instead of cursing the world for being so horrifying, she kept the hope alive that it would become better.

I smiled to myself, I have to be as strong as her.

-Time Skip-

Next Day

The next day, the only other person to be staying with us arrived, meaning there was only one other person left.

The boy had rocked up at dawn, already knowing what skyscraper we lived in. He had pink hair under his black beanie, wearing black jeans and a grey jacket over his white shirt, as well as a pink and black tie. He didn't say much, and instead of a gun, he had a katana; which was pretty rare.

In fact, he didn't say anything unless Miku was in the room; and, by the way Miku was constantly blushing, I knew something was going on between them. Not that I really cared. For once, it was my turn to explain the plan.

"So, your name is Yuma, right?" I asked. He nodded.

"Well, here's the plan," I said, "The UTAU base is the only way we can get a hovercraft to find their base and rescue Rin. However, there's no doubt they'll shoot us down, so we need to not only hi-jack a hovercraft, but a fighter jet as well. We'll be splitting to two teams. Team A will get the hovercraft, Team B will get the jet."

Yuma nodded.

"I'll be putting you on Team A with Meiko, Luka, Al and Ann." I explained, "Miku, Gumi, Oliver and I will be Team B; as we're the smallest and it should be easy to sneak past and get the jet. That, and I have pretty good aim."

He nodded again.

"We'll be attacking in two days time." I explained, "So be sharp until then."

Yuma nodded once more, before standing up and walking into the backroom. I knew Miku was there, so I decided to leave them be. Maybe I'd just go out for a walk.

I headed outside the skyscraper and down the road, passing by lots of skyscrapers, sometimes peeking inside. Then I stopped when I saw a strange building down the end of street; it wasn't a tall skyscraper, but a large, wooden building with steps leading up to it. I headed up to it, peeking inside. There was nobody there, but from the food packs inside, I figured it must've been Al and Ann that were living there.

I entered, closing the old, oak door behind me. The place smelt of old paper and dust, the ceiling was quite high, but the place was so open and old you'd be mad to stay there. It could easily collapse at any moment. Old, wooden bookshelves lined the back of the room and were toppled over in the middle from years of neglect. I headed over to one of the bookshelves, bending down and looking at the scraps of paper.

I pulled out one that was still intact, words written on it. I looked at each word carefully, sitting the corner on top of one of the fallen bookcases and reading. After half an hour, I'd managed to read two sentences.

_The moon rose into the sky that night, the stars twinkling around it. As promised, I meant him on the rooftop._

Folding the old piece of paper gently, I put it in my pocket, looking through more scraps of paper for something interesting. Most of the papers fell away in my hands, some were too difficult to read. I found a few books, but the majority of pages were missing.

It was sunset by the time I'd found three pages that interested me. I'd pocketed them all, and headed back to the skyscraper. I was sitting on the roof in the dull sunset light, trying to make out the words on the papers.

I started by continuing the first on.

_We exchanged our glances, before coming together and dancing to a song that wasn't audible, but playing in both our minds. The silent dance of our heartbeats and minds, of two souls eternally connected. _

"Oh, there you are," Gumi said, coming up onto the roof, she looked to the papers I held, "Where'd you get them?"

"I found them lying around," I said, "Decided I'd try and read them."

"Any luck?" She asked.

I nodded, "Quite a bit of luck, actually. Four sentences in an hour."

"Impressive," Gumi smiled, "Well, I brought you a food pack."

She handed me the wrapped package and I nodded thankfully.

"Have fun," She smiled, before climbing down the ladder and heading back inside. Once the sun had set, the faint light left by the moon meant I was able to continue reading.

_After our song, the concert ended. With a final kiss, we bid each other fair well, promising ourselves we'd see each other again._

I slipped the paper behind the others and began reading the next. This one was about the war, just before it happened. How UTAU and Crypton were starting to fight, and it was bound to be the apocalypse.

I finished off all the papers, before leaning back and gazing up at the dead sky. One thing in the papers was bothering me; what were stars? I'd never seen a star before; I didn't even know if I'd read the word properly. Star made sense, it was pronouncable, but there was nothing in the sky except darkness.

I folded the papers again, before opening the package Gumi gave me. I didn't cram it all in my mouth this time; we'd been eating properly for a while, and I didn't feel the need anymore.

Eating slowly and steadily, I kept gazing up at the dead sky; had there once been something there? I yawned, realizing that for once, I was actually tired. I headed down to the backroom, seeing Miku and Yuma sleeping together, whereas Gumi lay a few centimetres away. Oliver was nowhere to be seen.

"You're up late," Oliver said from behind me.

"Says you," I smiled. I was beginning to like the quirky kid.

"I can't sleep," Oliver said simply, he sat in the corner, drawing circles, "I've never been able to. When I sleep, I hear everyone."

Is that why he seemed so strange? Complete lack of sleep?

"What are you drawing?" I asked, seeing him drawing the same old symbol.

"It's the Maker's symbol," Oliver said.

"Maker?" I asked.

"Do you seriously think you were born like this?" Oliver asked, looking up at me, "Of course you weren't. For a period of two years, children were taken from UTAU families and experimented on in the hope of creating a super weapon. The Maker gave us these powers, stole our memories and lives. Any children that survived were given back to their families. My parents escaped, and prepared for the day I'd wake up and know nothing. Everyone was told that was going to happen; that they'd be wiped every ten years. It was so we wouldn't develop personalities, or memories, as we were to be put in the army at the age of ten."

"Does that mean I'm from UTAU?" I asked, feeling my stomach knot.

"Well, strictly speaking, yes," Oliver said, "Your body is from UTAU, you, Len, isn't."

I'd always known Len wasn't my real name, after all, it was the name I chose. But I'd never really thought about my prior identity. I'd never really thought I had one.

"How many others were there?" I asked.

"Around two hundred," Oliver said, "Fifty of us escaped, everyone else is a slave for UTAU."

My stomach knotted; fifty kids? Fifty kids, aged twelve to fourteen, wandering around with no memories? And it didn't make sense; if I was from UTAU, how did I have memories of being in Luki's place? Being in Luki's place and being called Len...

They weren't memories. Well, they were; they were Rin's memories. But how was I seeing them?...

"A few of us went drastically wrong," Oliver explained, "Didn't develop powers, lost our memories every three seconds; they were desposed of. Some of us turned out excellent. Sometimes developing up to five powers. Unfortunately, every single child that had more than one power, or an incredibly useful power, was kept by UTAU. Failures and escapees are the only ones wandering the streets, and UTAU often picks up escapees.

"A legend did go around, though," Oliver said, "That one experiment with two powers escaped."

Oliver looked up at me, smiling, "And the rumours are true."

I stared at him, knowing exactly what he was implying; I had two powers.

-Time Skip-

Next Day

I was the one with two powers, I was the one that was seen to be the world's only hope; because I was the only multi-powered child on the outside. Yet, UTAU had never known; I'd killed many of them, and they'd never known I was their biggest threat; but something else was weighing me down.

In six years time, I'd forget everything all over again.

Oliver had assured me there were ways to remember; meeting the person most important to you in those memories. Which meant, if I didn't rescue Rin; I'd completely forget her in six years time.

Which made me all the more determined to get her back.

We all stood on the edge of town, looking off to the east. Our last fighter was coming from that city on a high-jacked UTAU motorbike. Apparently, he was our best hope. From what Miku had told me, he was feared by UTAU for his extensive knowledge of their base. He'd been an UTAU member when he was fifteen and been the one to help everyone escape. So, in a way, I needed to thank him.

"I don't see why you needed to invite him," Meiko grumbled, "We could just wing it, see where we got; he's a liability you know."

"Only a liability for your heart, Meiko," Miku retorted, causing Meiko to glare at her, whilst Luka giggled.

"Is that him?" Yuma asked, pointing to a cloud of dust on the horizon. Miku shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand.

"Oh, that's him alright," Miku grinned, before waving. As the roar of the motor stopped before us, the cloud of dust disappeared. Leaning on the bike was a blue-haired man, wearing a thick black jacket and jeans, as well a blue scarf. And I instantly knew who he was.

"Kaito," I gasped.

**I'm so pleased I've had over two hundred and fifty views already! As well as 9 reviews! Thank you all for your continued support in reading this series! As always, nice reviews or constructive critism reviews are welcome, and all follows and favourites are highly appreciated! **

**I hope you enjoy the characters, storyboard and pairings! I originally wasn't going to add Yuma (VY2), but it occured to me that I could add someone with a sword... I couldn't resist! I think pairing him with Miku will work out well, but, as always, I want to hear YOUR opinion! Again, thank you all!**


	8. Chapter 8 - Infiltration

**A/N: Well! I'm going to be starting a new fan fiction (but head over to my profile to vote for what VOCALOID fan fiction I should do next). It will a Death Note fan fiction, and I'll be thankful to anyone who reads it! After I've finished the first Death Note fan fic, I'll be doing a Death Note/Vocaloid crossover. **

**As always, thank you for reading this! Critism is welcome, as I want to become a better author! And flattery is always appreciated :3**

"Kaito," I gasped.

How did I know him? I knew his face from somewhere... But I couldn't remember where. It had been dark, with loud sirens filling our ears. There'd been lots of us, crowds and crowds of kids; seven to nine years old. Yells... Sirens... Screams.

I snapped out of it, looking at where Kaito stood in front of me.

"You two know each other?" Meiko asked, "Poor sweetie, did Kaito get to you too?"

She attempted to stroke my arm, but Luka pulled her back.

"You're still alive?" Kaito raised his eyebrows, "After all these years, you're still well and fit... Good work. What name did you take on?"

"Len," I said, "What was my original name?"

"I think it was 189." Kaito said, "No-one really had a name; your parents didn't even get a chance to name you."

I was disappointed; I'd hoped I actually had a name, a name that my parents gave me. A name that was actually mine.

"Oh," I said.

Kaito frowned at me, "You look really different... Do you still like singing?"

"I suppose," I shrugged.

"Ah, they weren't kidding about how personalities and likes can completely change... You used to love singing, wasn't a moment you and 77 didn't spend singing." Kaito smiled, before his smile faded, "Pity she died. If she was still alive, I bet you'd remember everything."

Kaito ruffled my hair, "S'pose you worked out your mission, right buddy?"

"That's really annoying," I remarked, "And yeah, I suppose I did. My mission was - is - to destroy both UTAU and Crypton?"

"Exactly right," Kaito smiled, before looking up, "Ah, Al, Ann, how you fairing? I trust Oliver's personality is starting to develop once again?"

"Not really," Ann sighed, "He's very seclusive these days, obsessing over the Maker. He just won't stop."

"I'll talk to him-" Kaito stopped, his eyes falling on Meiko, "MEIIIIIKO!"

He squealed throwing his arms around her, "I missed you so muuuuch!"

"Get off of me you creep!" Meiko yelled, struggling to push Kaito - who had gone all mushy - off of her.

"But I love you, babe!"

"I DON'T LOVE YOU."

"Here they go again," Luka sighed. Kaito had completely dissolved from the serious self he was a few seconds ago, now just a complete idiot fawning over Meiko.

"This happens every time they meet," Al growled, "They're so immature."

"Honey, calm," Ann said gently.

"Ha! Sucked in Meiko!" Miku laughed hysterically, her twin tails bouncing. Yuma just looked else where as Gumi giggled.

"Can I have one kiss? Just one? Please?" Kaito begged, falling to his knees. In response, Meiko kicked him in the face, knocking him unconscious. Kaito just lay there blankly.

Miku leant on her tears, laughing, "Now you have to carry him back!"

"Shut up, Hatsune. I can always knock you out and force Yuma to carry you back." Meiko glared. Miku and Yuma both flushed bright red. Yuma straightened his tie, coughing awkwardly.

"Hah, and you deny liking each other..." Meiko smiled.

"Can we just go back?" Miku asked, her lips pursed, "I mean, everyone's here, so we should explain the details to Kaito and rest up. We have a big day ahead of us."

"I agree," I nodded, "We do have a big day ahead of us."

-Time Skip-

Next Day

We were all standing in the main room of the skyscraper, which made it slightly squishy. We were reloading guns, checking if the gun's worked and going over strategies. My heart was hammering in my chest; we were really doing this? It was likely half of us wouldn't come back alive; let alone unscathed.

What really kept bothering me was how much time UTAU had had Rin for; what experiments had they done on her? What was she like now?

With my chest hammering, my insides twisted and butterflies in my stomach, I loaded my guns, before subconsciously rubbing my palm. It didn't hurt anymore, the wound was starting to close up... I still had the material around it though.

My abdomen still hurt badly, but I was prepared to do anything; Gumi had suggested we wait for it to heal, but I'd had a bad feeling of what UTAU would do to her from the start. I just wanted to get her out of there, make sure she was safe.

"Everyone ready?" Miku asked. I nodded, as did everyone else, except Oliver. I looked to him; was he really fit to use the gun he was holding?

"Okay then, Team A will be using the eastern entrance, Team B the western. Remember your objectives, okay?" Miku said.

We all nodded. Miku smiled.

"Well then, I suppose we'll all get going!" Miku said. No-one else spoke; we were all too nervous. We all knew some of us weren't going to make it out alive (and Meiko probably hoped Kaito didn't), and we all had someone else there that we cared about. Not only were we worrying for ourselves, but for their life too.

I was mostly worried for Gumi's life, but Oliver had also come to grow on me. In fact, I didn't know how I'd handle Oliver dying; sure, he had no personality present but...

He was like me. A lot like me. I'd hate to be in Al or Ann's place; sending their twelve year old boy into a fight he'd be lucky to come back from.

Team B and Team A split up as we headed out of the skyscraper. Team A was taking a different road to us, as to avoid suspicion. But we were a large group, we were bound to draw suspicion anyway.

Miku, Oliver, Gumi and I stayed silent as we walked; we had to take the longer trip, going around near the old place with writing on paper, before doubling back and sneaking through the entrance. As we neared to old place, the lines of the papers kept racing through my mind. If I lived through this, I'd ask Rin what stars were.

A part of me had absolutely no care if I died in the process of saving Rin, another part wanted to survive just for her sake. We started doubling back. Miku led the way, trying to be cheerful, but her thoughts were obviously elsewhere.

Then I saw it; the UTAU base. This definitely wasn't going to be the most difficult part of the rescue, but it wasn't going to be a walk in the park either.

"Stop," Oliver said quickly. We froze in place, looking back to him. What had he heard?

Oliver's eyes were wide for a few moments, darting back and forth, before he finally said, "I heard screams. I've heard them before, last night."

Oliver's eyes shut slightly, as a grimace came over his face, "We have to hurry."

I wasn't stupid, from the look on his face, and the way he refused to look at me, he'd heard Rin screaming. She was in pain.

We hurried our pace, darting behind the back of the building.

"I'll go first," Miku said, "I'm well known with the UTAUs, most of them actually think I'm one of them."

I nodded, holding up my hand so she could step up on it and go through the open window we'd found. She slid through, landing easily on the other side.

"All clear," She murmured. I helped Gumi spring up, then Oliver, before heaving myself through the window. I winced as I slid through on my belly; my abdomen... I scrunched up a bit so my wound wasn't on the sharp ledge of the window, before dropping through.

The room was spacious, and empty besides from some crates; it reminded me of the old basement. Miku stayed in front, pushing through doors and peeking her head through quietly. We went down corridors, looking through windows and listening out for footsteps.

We came to a heavy door, which Miku peeked through.

"This is it," She murmured, "The flighter jet hanger."

"How many guards are there?" Gumi whispered. Miku paused, counting quickly.

"Twenty." She replied quietly. We all choked back on fear; we'd have to kill off five guards each, with five shooting at us at once.

"There's no way we can sneak in," I whispered, "Besides, the hovercraft is the number on priority, if we attract attention, they others will be safe. We can get an ambush if you let me up front; I'll shoot two guards dead and then there'll only be eighteen."

Miku nodded, stepping back quietly. I edged forward, taking my guns from my belt and angling them in the door. Two guards standing directly in front of the jet were my targets.

I pulled the trigger, the loud bang going off. Both guards fell to the ground, the others springing to action. I ran in, shooting as many as I could. Three others fell to the ground as I sprinted towards the jet entrance.

The others entered, gunshots deafening any sound. Then a yell filled the air and I spun around, seeing Oliver on the floor.

I quickly shot the guard that had their gun pointed to his head. Oliver looked up, blood gushing from his left eye. A bullet had scraped across it, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that Oliver would never see through that eye again.

Eventually the last guard fell to the ground, but the alarm was blaring away, footsteps hurrying down the hallway.

"LOCK THE DOOR!" I yelled. Miku and Gumi dragged the door across, smashing the lock button. The door fastened shut.

Oliver was standing, walking over, blood and tears dripping from his eye.

"Oliver..." I said.

"I can't turn back," Oliver said, "Even if I've lost my eye. I have to see this through to the end."

I nodded, as we all ran up onto the open fighter jet. It was yellow; how appropriate. The fighter jet was quite cramped, but since we were all small, we could fit. I got into the pilot's seat.

"Have you ever even flown one of these things?" Miku asked, slipping into the seat behind me.

"Nope, but there's a first time for everything," I said, as Miku flicked on some switches.

"Thank god I have," She sighed, "You just take the gun controls and shoot anything that comes near us."

I nodded. In the back, Gumi was strapping Oliver in and tending to his eye. She'd found a medical kit in the back of the fighter jet and was bandaging up Oliver's eye.

Miku flicked some more switches, before pulling a lever. The engine started whirring. After pressing one more button, the rooftop opened. Up ahead, I saw other fighter jets circling the sky.

"Shit," I gasped.

"Gonna have your work cut out for you, huh?" Miku grinned, as the jet lifted off the ground.

"Just tell me how to use this." I said.

"Just move the joystick and press the button the fire, not too hard." She said, "Gumi, you take the rear guns."

Gumi nodded, shifting into the seat. The jet moved rapidly through the clouds, my colour going greener than Gumi's hair.

"Toughen up, Len!" Miku crowed, spinning to dodge some shots.

"Miku, you're making it impossible to hit them!" Gumi complained.

"Pfft," Miku scoffed, circling around one of the jets. I focussed, slamming down the button as the single shot hit the jet directly in the middle, causing it to explode into tiny shards.

"Woo!" Miku cheered, before circling out of the way of the explosion. She spun so I had aim to the jets behind us.

"Miku, stop!" I complained, feeling sick again, "Stop flying upside-down..."

"If you shoot them, then I will, Lenny." She grinned. I slammed down the button as soon as my aim was correct, before Miku flew right through the explosion cloud, still flipping and spinning.

"YOU'RE INSANE!" I shouted, continuing to shoot jets whenever the chance occured.

"DAMN RIGHT I AM!" Miku shouted happily, before squealing in delight.

"I'm gonna puke," I complained.

"Man up, Len!" Miku said, dodging past some shots, "You wanna save Rin or not?"

"Why did I accept your help?..." I thought aloud, before spinning my guns and shooting a jet at our side. Two more jets swooped down on either side of us, mimicking Miku's death sentence moves.

"Cutting engines!" Miku said.

"Wait, what?!" I screamed as the engines stopped, and we fell. Oliver rose in his seat in the back as I clung to mine.

"Weee!" Miku said, before booting up the engines and flying off again.

"Never... Never do that again..." I said shakily.

"I got rid of them, didn't I?" Miku grinned, before spinning around again and appearing behind the two jets we just fell out of line from. I shot them quickly, both exploding into millions of pieces.

"When the world is at peace, I'm gonna put up a restraining order against you." I promised.

She grinned madly, "I look forward to it, Lenny!"

She circled back around towards the base, so we could keep watch for a hovercraft. Soon, a hovercraft rose from the roof, so Miku flicked on the communicator.

"Sup, how's it?" She asked casually, spinning around in her boredom, as I went green again.

"Al got shot in the shoulder," Meiko replied, "But besides that we're all fine. Luka and I are flying, while Ann attends to Al's injuries. You?"

"Oliver lost his left eye," Miku said, "And Len seems ill from my flying, but besides that, we're good too."

Miku pulled back so we were behind them, slowing her pace and lowering her insanity.

"Is there a hanger in the hovercraft that we can board when we get close to the HQ?" Miku asked.

"Yeah," Meiko said, "And, really, you shouldn't fly so poor Lenny feels sick-"

"Why do you love him and not me, Meiko?" Kaito sobbed.

"Oh man up, Kaito," Meiko said in disgust, "You know you're not half as cute as Len."

"Exactly; I'm sexy, not cute."

Miku and Gumi started giggling.

"This isn't the time to be arguing," I said, "We need to focus, Kaito, do you know the directions to the HQ?"

"Course I do," Kaito said, becoming sane again, "But Meiko won't give me the controls."

"Meiko, hun, give him the controls," Miku said, "Wait, why are you and Luka flying?"

"Well, you see..." Meiko said, "We got a pretty beaten-up hovercraft; it was easiest to get to, so Luka's fixing it as we go..."

"Ugh," Miku said, "Whatever, just let Kaito fly."

There was a shuffling as Meiko switched places with Kaito.

"Okay, I'll disable communication until we're all clear, so we can't be traced," Kaito said, before the speaker crackled and went silent.

"So, we should play a game," Miku said, "How about I-Spy? I'll go first. I spy with my little eye something white and fluffy."

"A cloud," I replied lamely.

"Damn, your turn." Miku said casually, leaning back in her chair and flicking a switch so the jet automatically followed the hovercraft. She put her feet on up the controls.

"You're a complete sadist, you know," I sighed.

"And Yuma's a masochist," Miku said, "So it all works out in the end. Now, your turn."

"I'm not playing your stupid game," I said.

"Awww, party pooper," Miku said, "How about rock, paper, scissors then?"

"You're really not aware of the danger we're in, are you?" I asked, glancing at her.

"Oh, I'm aware all right," Miku said, "I just-"

"Don't give a shit?" I offered. Miku shrugged and nodded, before the speaker crackled to life.

"Okay, opening the hanger now," Kaito said. Miku flicked off the switch, taking control of the jet again and swerving closer to the hovercraft. The hovercraft's hatch fell open, as we flew in. It closed behind us and Miku lowered the jet to the ground, before killing the engine. I immediately exited, clutching the wall for support as I walked up to the control room.

"Aww, sweetie, you look unwell," Meiko said, walking up to me. She began fussing over me. Al was unconscious in his seat, strapped in with the strap moved so it didn't touch his shoulder. Ann sat beside him, holding his hand. Luka was bent down under the control panel, tinkering with the engine.

Kaito sat in the pilot's chair, wearing a head piece, whereas Yuma leant by the wall, playing with his hands nervously.

Gumi entered the room, supporting Oliver. Ann immediately ran over to him, fussing and crying, coaxing him into a seat near his father. Then Miku skipped in happily, immediately being taken into a hug by Yuma.

Their cheeks redenned as she hugged him back. I slipped into a seat opposite Oliver, looking out the front windscreen.

"Oh my god," Meiko suddenly gasped, and we all looked up. In front of us was a giant cube, with entrances everywhere, other hovercrafts and fighter jets coming and going.

We'd made it, we were at UTAU.

**I was recently added to a community! I never thought that would happen! Thank you all for reading my fan fiction and reviewing; even to those who don't review! I never forget you! **

**Faves, follows and reviews appreciated, as always! And yes, Miku is completely insane. **


	9. Chapter 9 - Rescue

**A/N: This is the last chapter in the storyboard! Next chapter will be what really happened to Len in UTAU, and what happened with Rin at Crypton! The chapter after that will be an epilogue set ten years in the future.**

It was ironic, really, how Crypton's base was a dome, and UTAU's was a cube. They really were total opposites.

Kaito turned on the speaker, "This is cargo ship 156, here to drop off an emergency food supply."

"Please state your city," The woman on the other end replied.

"West sector, city 901." Kaito replied coolly, "Lowering shields."

He flicked off some switches above his head, steering slowly towards the cube. He'd done this plenty of times before, when he used to work for UTAU...

A section in the massive cube opened, revealing a hanger. The hanger was empty, guardless.

"That city was recently under attack," The woman said.

"We managed to escape with the food before the attack," Kaito explained, as he killed the engines, the hovercraft inside the hanger. He then killed the speaker, turning back to us.

"We're in," He confirmed, "How are we doing this?"

"Where would Rin be?" I asked.

"Either in the cells in the western wing, or the lab in the southern wing." Kaito explained, "I'm going to be heading off to the northern wing; I forget to save some people last time I was here."

I nodded, "Okay, Meiko, Gumi, you go with Kaito and rescue the prisoners. Miku and Yuma, you're in the western wing. Ann, you stay here and tend to Al. Luka you're with me. Oliver, you up for coming with me to check the southern wing?"

"I told you," Oliver said, "I'll stay 'til the end, even if I die."

"Ollie," Ann sobbed.

Oliver smiled reassuringly at her, "It's okay, mum. Don't you want me to get revenge on UTAU, anyway?"

Ann nodded, sobbing.

"Okay, let's go." I said, and so the mission commenced.

-MEANWHILE-

Kaito's P.O.V

We headed down the stairs, our guns ready in our hands. This was the second time I'd done this, the second time I'd headed down to rescue the prisoners. I'd been assisted by a fourteen-year-old boy, similar to Len in the way he acted.

Len. What an interesting name to choose. I wonder where he overheard it?

Meiko hadn't complained about being partnered with me, I suppose it was because we really needed to focus. That... or she was finally beginning to take a liking to me. I wish. The metallic corridors were empty, there weren't even any guards patrolling.

It was odd; where was everyone? We heard footsteps in the distance, so we froze, hiding behind the wall. My face screwed up in disgust when I saw the man walk passed. It was Leon, my old colleague. Nowadays, he was known simply as 'The Doctor' for his amazing skills in surgery... The skills to alter people's memories, personality and give them... odd powers. The man who'd taken over 200 children away for his own, selfish wants.

His long, white lab coat fell to the floor, his blue eyes looking away, his blonde hair falling over his face. Glasses balanced on the edge of his nose. He continued on his way.

Why was he here? He usually stayed away from Headquarters, only coming when he had a new victim. I scowled, we really did have to hurry.

We headed around the corner, down more flights of stairs. Soon, we were on the bottom floor. Bars lined small, dark rooms, with iron doors. In each room were two pet bowls, one full of food, the other full of water. Some of the kids ate from the bowls, others slumped against the wall, hiding in the corner.

They were simply pets to Leon. It disgusted me.

Gumi had gasped the moment she saw them. She was horrified, we all were. Some of the kids had lost sanity completely, had they ever had any, and were growling at us as we passed. Most of them looked normal, but some had ears, tails, scales and horns. Some even had wires passing over their skin, metal replacing chunks of their faces, or other robotic parts replacing their own.

Leon used to say it was his goal to create the perfect human being by altering DNA, but how was replacing body parts perfectly someone? How was taking away freedom and training them to be pets, making them perfect?

Something rose in my throat, as I spotted a young girl crying in the corner of one of the cells. Her dark hair covered her, as she sobbed, face on her knees. I could tell some of the kids had no mind, no soul, as they just sat there blankly, their eyes not even staring at us. Whereas others screamed, thrashed or cried, yelling at us.

I headed over to the cell which contained the young girl, pulling open the release lever. The door whirred open, and she looked up at me. A sick feeling rose in my stomach. Her right eye had been replaced by a yellow robot's eye, the skin peeling away and stapled down. She hiccuped.

"Come on, we'll take you away from this place," I promised. She hiccuped again, standing. I noticed her left leg was also machinery. She was still human mostly, she could cry, she had emotions.

She stumbled towards me and I hugged her.

"It's okay, everything will be alright." I promised. She simply nodded, still sobbing. Gumi and Meiko were releasing other prisoners that didn't just stare blankly, some as young as five, others as old as seventeen.

Then I spotted her; the woman standing blankly in the cell at the very end. He black hair, which had once been short, was lank, falling over her shoulders. Her hands were together, her eyes completely blank and lifeless. Lola.

"How could you do this, Leon?" I murmured, gazing at Leon's fiancee, "To your own fiancee..."

The lump in my throat got bigger and bigger. I remembered standing here last time; it hadn't been silent back then. There'd always been a beautiful voice singing. I'd always hear it as I patrolled outside; the young boy singing to himself and others. No-one else would say anything, and the boy was often beaten for his singing. It was that boy that convinced me to rescue everyone, that not all of them were heartless.

Glancing at the cells, I could see the boy, sitting there. Eyes closed, singing to himself, or talking. Talking as if someone else was replying. From the conversations I'd picked up of his madness, he was always talking to a girl, always murmuring 'I wish you weren't so far away'. He'd been crazy, alright.

I could see him, his head leaning against the wall, mouth moving as the music flooded out. His hands would be folded on his lap, his blonde hair falling around him, as his blue eyes stared at the ceiling.

The young girl clung to my arm, as twenty odd kids and us made our way down the hall.

"Kaito," Lola murmured from her cell. I looked at her, crimson tears streaking down her face.

"Help... Please..." She begged, "Get me out of here..."

I nodded, pulling down the lever. She stumbled out, hugging me.

"Why did Leon do this to you?" I asked, as Lola gave the young girl a hug.

"He wanted a son..." She said, her hug tightening as the young girl hugged her back. _The girl is your daughter, Leon! _My thoughts yelled, _how could you do this... To your family..._

"Yuki..." Lola said quietly, kissing her daughter's forehead.

"We have to go," I said, balling up my fists, "Gumi, Meiko, take them back to the hovercraft, I'm going to go have a little chat to an old friend..."

-MEANWHILE-

Yuma's P.O.V

The corridors seemed to go on forever. Our footsteps echoed as we went, everything else was silent. I hated the feel of the place, the atmosphere. I remembered this place from nightmares; the long corridor.

_Breathing heavily, rushing towards the door, before being knocked back down. _

Miku said nothing either; she knew this was the place I'd told her about, the place I dreaded. I suppose I was lucky for not being turned into one of the mutants. I had my own reasons for coming on this mission; I had no interest in the war, or beating UTAU. I was hear for two reasons; to protect Miku and rescue the other girl.

I could remember being here all too clearly, and I couldn't stand the thought of someone else being in my place, someone who'd done nothing wrong.

Miku could be completely insane when it came to fighting, so crazy she almost kept getting herself killed. I needed to have her back, to keep watch over her.

I could see the end of the corridor in the distance; thick, metal doors. The screams coming from the room were loud and horrifying; the torture rooms were near the cells. That, I remembered. My hand almost rose to the scar along my shoulder, but I decided against it.

_"Take the fool back to his cell."_

Miku pushed through the doorway. The room we entered was dark, with two doors leading off of it.

"Man, it's dark in here," Miku complained.

"It gets darker," I said quietly.

"Which way?" Miku asked me, before a sharp scream came from the door on the left. She took back her question, pushing through the door on the right. There was another, long corridor, cells lining it on either side. Some prisoner's were, as to be expected, crazy. Cackling louder, yelling and swearing, others said nothing.

I used to be one of the silent prisoners, sitting alone, praying for a time when I would escape. Or just for a time when I would die. When the daily torture would end.

"You check that side," Miku told me, browsing through the prisoners. Every second I was in the corridor, my insides twisted tighter and tighter and I felt worse and worse. I kept going, remembering Miku was right behind me the entire time.

All Miku had told me was the girl had blonde hair, and was called Rin Kagamine, so I only looked at the names of blonde-haired girls. By the time I'd looked through all of them, I hadn't seen a 'Rin Kagamine'.

"She's not here," I said, turning to Miku, who also looked disappointed, "Let's try the next set of cells."

Pushing through into the next room, my stomach twisted tighter; this was the corridor I was kept in.

It was odd how little guards were around, there hadn't been any so far. Where were they all? This corridor was silent, besides from the occasion cough or sniff. It was a lot emptier than the first corridor.

At the end of the hallway, I could see the cell I used to be in. It was empty, the door open. The cell opposite it was still closed, and I wondered, if the girl who used to be there was still there...

"I'll check down the end," I whispered to Miku. She nodded, starting to check through prisoner names as she went, as half of them were hidden in the shadows.

I picked up the clipboard hanging next to the closed cell, flipping it. I froze as I read the name.

"Mizki," I murmured, crouching down in front of the bars, "Mizki, you there?"

Slowly, the girl edged out of the shadows, her eyes wide, her dark hair falling around her shoulders. Her fingers tightened around the bars, her wide eyes darting around my face, before she let out a sob.

"Y-Y-Yuma?... Y-y-you're alive?..." She sobbed. She was a mess; blood smearing across her face, bruises covering her face. I wrenched open the door without hesitation, and Miku glanced at me.

"Did you find her?" Miku asked, but frowned, as Mizki threw her hands around my name, "Who's she?"

I could see the jealousy burning in Miku's eyes, even in a dark corridor.

"Mizki," I said, "My sister."

My younger sister sobbed as she hugged me. Miku's face softened.

"I'll keep looking," She said, "Mizki, we need your help, okay?"

Mizki nodded, "What should I do?"

"I need you to help us look through the prisoner names for a Rin Kagamine-"

"You're looking for Rin?" Mizki asked, her eyes widening in surprise, "She was taken off to the southern wing this morning."

"Len's team," Miku murmured, before grinning, "Ooo, whoever's hurting her will be in biiiiig trouble when Lenny gets there."

Miku was starting to be insane again; yet, it was always this carefree, dangerous side of her I loved. The part that didn't count the consequences and lived for the moment.

Though, it always meant I ended up risking my neck for her.

"Well, let's go and leave it to Lenny," Miku said, "Least-"

Miku's sentence was cut off, by the loud alarm sounding in our ears.

-MEANWHILE-

Len's P.O.V

The siren whirred loudly. Oliver, Luka and I froze, looking up at the flashing red light above our heads.

"Intruders in the northern wing, I repeat, intruders in the northern wing." The voice said. Of course; Kaito had been caught.

"Meiko," Luka gasped, her thoughts instantly jumping to her sister. Then I remembered my memories involved sirens as well; was Kaito really that hopeless at rescue missions? I heard footsteps thundering closer and pulled Luka and Oliver into a small room.

"What are you kids doing here?" A familiar voice asked. I turned, seeing the purple-haired man, the one that'd originally kidnapped Rin, leaning in a chair, his hair falling loosely around his shoulders as he sipped on his coffee. He held a gun in his other hand, pointed directly at us.

I went for my gun.

"I wouldn't," He advised, "If you do, I'll kill you."

"I never miss," I threatened. The man grinned lopsidedly.

"Neither do I." He said, "Move and the girl gets it."

He was referring to Luka, who's eyes were wide in fear. The man looked at me, scowling.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" He asked, before his lips twitched into a smile, "Ah... It's you, huh, boy? The fact you're here just confirms that you really are your mother's son."

I froze, "My mother?"

"Yes," He said, "You even have her hair."

His icy blue eyes locked on mine as his lips twitched into a smile, "Shocked?"

Images flashed in my mind. Images of a woman, long blonde hair, gold eyes, smiling at me. The cold face of a blonde haired man, blue-eyed man. Screams and crying, before finally, I saw the purple-haired man mouthing something at me. Sitting in a cell, singing to myself, keeping my spirits up, praying someone would hear me. Talking to a girl, far, far away, her voice replying in my head. A smile on my face as I dreamt of her at night, singing with her during the day. How was I remembering this?

Then, I clearly saw what the purple-haired man mouthed. Son.

My breathing stopped, moments passing in silence.

"F-f-father," I gasped, stammering at the purple-haired man.

"Oh, how sweet; you do remember me?" He grinned. Bitter tears began forming in my eyes. After Oliver had told me about everything, I thought I'd been taken from my parents; that they'd missed me dearly. Never had I thought that my mother had been beaten to death, my father happily handing me over...

"I hate you," I said, no emotion in my voice. It was simply a fact.

"I know you do," My father smirked, "You always have."

A sickening bang filled my ears as Luka slumped beside us. She fell to the ground, a puddle of blood oozing out from her skull.

Then his aim shifted to me.

-MEANWHILE-

Kaito's P.O.V

The sirens were whirring as we ran through the corridors, down more and more stairs.

"Kaito, are you sure you even know where we're going!?" Meiko yelled over the sound of sirens and footsteps, everyone's footsteps clanging on the metallic floor.

"Not really!" I replied honestly, as we scooted down a hall, UTAUs began appearing, so I took my gun out, shooting as we went passed. Several UTAUs fell dead, and I picked up one of their guns as we went passed.

"Lola!" I yelled, chucking the gun to her. She clicked the safety off, holding it at the ready as we went. It seemed like an endless stretch of corridors, stairs and UTAUs, at least none of us had fallen victim to a shot yet.

"I hope the others are having more luck than us," Meiko cussed under her breath.

Some of the older kids, around fifteen or sixteen, were helping us, taking their own guns and firing at UTAUs, or using their gifts. One of the kids had the power to channel electricity into anything or anyone, meaning he simply eletrocuted the UTAUs that attacked him, passing their guns to someone else.

"Shit," I cursed, as we came to a dead end. Meiko and I exchanged worried looks, before spinning on our heels.

"I can help," Lola's daughter said quietly, edging past everyone up to the wall. She placed her hands on it, her eye closed while her robotic eye stared ahead. Slowly, the wall started to deform, melting and falling apart, leaving a gaping hole. It led to a room with a shut door, two UTAUs standing up quickly. Lola shot them quickly, and they fell to the ground and we hurried everyone inside, shoving open the door and heading up another corridor.

"Okay," I said, "If I can remember, this corridor takes you back to hangers," I said, "High-jack a hovercraft and go."

"Kaito..." Meiko began.

"This isn't any time to talk, you guys got to get away from here. Thanks to us, Len and the others are in danger, I have to go find them and make Leon pay for these horrors-"

Before I knew it, Meiko was kissing me. Lola led everyone else on ahead, as my hands tightened around her waist. Our tongues met, our lips parting as her hands locked around the back of my neck. I forgot entirely what I was supposed to be doing; I'd been waiting for this for years.

When she pulled back from me, she grinned.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" I asked.

"Coz," Meiko said, "If I didn't do that, you'd have made me leave with the others."

Everyone else had filtered out of the corridor, already heading towards the hovercraft. She grinned crookedly at me.

"You little-"

"Oh shut it, Kaito," Meiko said, "Or you'll never get another. I'm just worried about Luka, you can take on this Leon guy by all means. Luka's never been as strong-willed as me, so she'll probably need back-up."

I sighed, "I suppose."

"If I come back alive," Meiko said, "We'll continue, okay?"

"What do you mean 'if'?" I said, "You mean 'when'."

Meiko grinned at me, before bounding off down the hallway. Now, to go find Leon...

-MEANWHILE-

Len's P.O.V

"Don't," Oliver said, "Don't kill him."

My father raised his eyebrow at Oliver, "And who are you?"

"It doesn't matter who I am, Gakupo," Oliver said, "It only matters what I can do."

"What are you-"

"Trust me on this, Len," Oliver smiled at me, "I have an offer for you, Mr. Gakupo, sir."

"Oh really?" My father, Gakupo, asked, "What would that be?"

"I can tell you where The Dome is," Oliver promised, "If you let Len go."

"And how do I know you're not lying?" Gakupo asked, his aim shifting to Oliver.

"I know your name, don't I?" Oliver said, "I'm one of the experiments, I escaped a few years back. My power is the ability to hear any conversation, anywhere in the world, at any time. I'm the one who knew where this place was."

Gakupo laughed, "Anything at any time? Then you'll be able to tell me the pass code for the top security prison, won't you?"

"962-314-008," Oliver said, "Correct me if I'm mistaken."

Gakupo's jaw fell open, "How-"

"I overheard two UTAUs talking about it this morning over coffee," Oliver explained, "As I said, I can tell you the exact co-ordinates of The Dome, you just have to let Len go."

"And how do I know you won't lie?" Gakupo asked.

"If I'm lying," Oliver said, "You can kill us both. I'll give you the co-ordinates now, and you can look using satellite."

"Okay, fine," Gakupo said.

"But you have to give me your word," Oliver said, "That you'll let Len go. I don't care if you kill me-"

"No-" I started to intervene.

"Yes, Len," Oliver said firmly.

"Tell me the co-ordinates," Gakupo said.

"I need to write them down," Oliver said.

"Fine," Gakupo said, pulling out a drawer. Then it occured to me; Oliver couldn't even write... I unclicked my gun instantly, squeezing the trigger. Gakupo fell to floor, dead.

Oliver breathed, "Thank god you're intelligent."

"Thanks," I grinned, feeling sick. I'd just killed my own father; sure, he was a horrible father, but he was still my father. I sighed, looking at Luka.

"She's dead," I murmured, the sick feeling in my stomach rising.

"I'll take her body back to the hovercraft," Oliver said, "Meiko would want that."

I nodded, as Oliver picked up Luka's limp body. For a small, weedy twelve year old, Oliver sure was strong.

"You go find Rin," Oliver told me, "She's at the lab, I heard Yuma's sister say so."

I nodded, and hurried off down the corridor. The army of UTAUs was obviously out hunting Kaito's group, so, hopefully, the lab would be deserted and it would be easy for me to rescue Rin.

I came to thick doors, which opened the moment I walked near them. The room smelt of disinfectant, the lights so bright it almost blinded me. Fifty beds lined the walls, clipboards on the edge of their beds. It had details on what the Maker's goal was, what he was hoping to achieve with them.

It made me feel sick; we were all treated like frogs in biology, except we were sown up again and told to fight. Then I saw her. Lying on one of the beds, dressed only in a thin, white hospital gown. The heart monitor beside her beeped in time to most of the other heatbeats, the only exceptions being those close to death.

"Rin," I murmured, leaning over her. She seemed relatively normal, no scars, no missing limbs, "Rin, wake up."

I brushed her hair and froze. Along her forehead was a scar, stitched up. My thumb ran over it.

"Dammit, Len, stop," She murmured, he hand clasping my arm, "That hurts, you know."

Her eyes opened slowly, looking up at me, "Wait, where are we?"

"Long story short, UTAU," I said, helping her sit up, "You were taken, but I came to rescue you."

"All alone?" She asked.

"Well, no, Miku's friends came and- Rin, we don't have time for this. Really, we have to get going." I said impatiently, "One of our team's got caught, and we need to get out of here ASAP."

"Okay," Rin said, "But you have to tell me everything afterwards."

I nodded.

"You better tell her now Len," A voice said, a gun clicking, "Because you're not leaving here alive."

I turned, looking at the person holding the gun. Standing there was Piko, or, at least, what used to be Piko.

-MEANWHILE-

Yuma's P.O.V

Our footsteps echoed on the metallic floor, the sirens still whining. They hadn't caught Kaito's team yet, which was a good sign.

We ran down through the corridors, we were quite close to the hangers, but I could hear UTAUs coming closer. Pulling my sword from it's sheath, I nodded to Miku, who took out her guns, clicking off the safety. We get running.

The moment we entered the room, I jumped on top of one of the UTAUs, sinking my sword into his neck before bringing to around and stabbing the one progressing on me. Miku shot three others, before we grabbed Mizki's hands and dragged her into the hanger.

The hanger was clear of UTAUs, but Ann was leaning against the side of the hovercraft, her leg bloodied. Three dead UTAUs were slumped on the ground, blood gushing from their wounds.

"Where are the others?" I asked.

"I-I," Ann breathed heavily, "I saw... Gumi... With a bunch of prisoners... They headed off to another hovercraft... Kaito and Meiko weren't with them..."

"Anything from Len's team?" I asked, as Miku helped Mizki inside.

"No..." Ann said, "But no alerts either, hopefully they're close to Rin."

I nodded, "You go take a rest, Miku and I will keep watch."

Ann nodded, "They come by occasionally one at a time." Before heading inside.

Miku waltzed out a few seconds later, chirpy as ever.

"Well, that sure was fun," Miku smiled, "Pity we didn't get a team with more action, huh, Yuma? If we'd been with Kaito-"

"We'd probably be dead," I sighed, "Look, Miku, I know you love the thrill but... Honestly, I just want to get you back safely."

Miku smiled lopsidedly at me, "Of course I'll be fine, Yuma. I'm me, you know? I bounce back."

I laughed, "No kidding."

We heard a bang at the door, and immediately had our weapons at the ready. The door burst open and Oliver stepped in.

"Don't shoot me," He said quickly. Miku lowered her gun, her eyes widening. Dumped over Oliver's shoulder was the pink-haired girl, Luka. She was dead.

"Oh god," Miku said, "Oh god..."

Oliver dumped Luka on the floor, leaning on his knees for support, "She was shot by Len's father."

We went pale; Len's father?

"He's not a threat anymore, don't worry," Oliver said, before smiling, "We got the better of him."

"Yuma," Miku said, "Get Luka inside; Meiko will want to bury her. Oliver, you should go talk to your mother, she's worried about you."

Oliver nodded, heading inside. I walked over to the pink-haired woman, picking her up. Her skin was cold from death, her eyes completely blank, her body beginning to go stiff. It made me feel sick to hold a dead woman.

I walked in, strapping the dead woman in. Mizki shot her a look, before glancing at me.

"It's okay, Mizki," I said, "Her sister would want to bury her, that's all."

Ann was crying, hugging Oliver and telling him how worried she was. I gave Mizki a hug, feeling it my duty as her older brother.

"YUMA!" Miku shrieked and I instantly ran out. Three UTAU men were walking in, and Miku's shoulder was bleeding. I drew my sword, racing over to the men and stabbing and slicing at them. They fell to the ground either dead or headless, and I rushed over to Miku.

"It's okay," I said, "I promise..."

Then, the door flew open again.

-MEANWHILE-

Kaito's P.O.V

"LEON!" I yelled at the top of my voice as I strolled up and down the corridors, "LEON YOU BASTARD! COME FACE ME!"

Many would call it stupid to yell at the top of your voice for your enemy to come out, but I was never one to go for the indirect approach. I wanted Leon dead, I was going to kill him myself.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO YOUR FAMILY?!" I continued, strolling casually, "COME PAY FOR YOUR CRIMES!"

"You never did know when to shut up," A voice sighed from my side. I turned, seeing Leon standing there, a book in one hand, the other hand pushing up his glasses as his eyes met mine, "Kaito."

"Damn you, Leon," I growled, "I saw what you did to your daughter... And to Lola..."

"It's her fault, really," Leon said, "I told her to mother me a son. She gave me a daughter. She's a failure, as is my daughter. You can't blame me."

"You're a scientist, Leon!" I said, balling my fists, "You know it doesn't work like that; you study DNA for god's sake, so don't give me bullshit."

Leon smiled, "Okay, since we were once close, I'll tell you the truth. I got bored, so I decided to play with them."

"You're completely sick," I spat, "You disgust me in every way."

"I imagine I do," Leon nodded, "But, Kaito, I don't go by double standards, you should know that. If others are unworthy enough to be experimented on, so am I."

Leon's hand began to crackle with a blue static, "Do you know what this is, Kaito? Of course you don't, not even I do. But I do, however, know the effects it can have on the human body, shall I show you?"

I took my gun from my belt, but it was pulled to Leon's hand like a magnet.

"It attracts metals, for one, all types of metal." Leon said calmly, "I won't try and shoot you, don't worry, because the bullet would simply hit me. So, instead, I'll hurt you by damaging you with other methods."

Leon ran up to me, his crackling hand meeting my face. Time paused for a second, before it exploded, blood gushing from my cheek.

"It can rip away substances, like skin," Leon explained. I groaned from the pain of my entire cheek exploding with blood. My skin started re-covering my flesh.

"Of course, it's not permanent," Leon sighed, "As it also projects healing. But it hurts you, doesn't it, Kaito? It hurts you a lot."

I couldn't shoot him; so I'd have to go for good old fashioned violence. I swung my fist at him, but he caught it with his crackling hand. Everything froze, before the skin and flesh on my knuckles exploded.

I screamed in pain, falling back.

"I wonder what would happen if I touched your eye," Leon grinned darkly, "It may never grow back. How about we experiment with that theory, old friend?"

-MEANWHILE-

Len's P.O.V

It wasn't Piko; not the Piko I knew. His blue gaze was no longer blue, but blue and green. His hair was cropped into a bob, and, sticking out from under his hospital gown, was a long cord.

"Piko," I gasped, "What... Happened to you?"

"I was improved," Piko said, "Made into something of equal worth to you, Len. Yes, I know! I know how you're the only multi-powered experiment that escaped! I've always known, since we first met. And it's been my job to become of equal worth to you."

"I can't believe you..." I said.

"I grew to like you, Len," Piko said sadly, "But father told me that I had to bring her here, no matter what. That if I did, I'd become better than you..."

I looked at Piko's arms, parts of his skin missing and replaced by metallic plates, with lights flashing.

"It's always been my dream to surpass you, Len," Piko said, tears forming in his mis-matched eyes, "Always. That was the reason I got in your way. The reason I met you. The reason I stayed. I was supposed to kill you... But... I-I couldn't."

He choked on his tears, "And I still can't..."

He dropped his gun and it clattered to the floor. He fell to the ground, sobbing loudly. I wasn't falling for it; even if he was being sincere, I wasn't going to comfort him. He'd already betrayed me.

"I-I-I I'm s-s-sorry..." He stammered, "I-I-I never m-m-meant for this to h-h-h-happen. I just... I wanted to be important..."

Piko stood up, his eyes meeting mine, "I'm sorry, Len."

"I don't believe you," I said. Piko's gaze didn't drop from mine, it stayed the same.

"I knew you wouldn't," Piko said, "Why should you? Is Gumi still alive?"

"I have no idea," I said, "If she's dead, it's entirely your fault."

"I know," Piko said, taking his gun from the bed it fell on and clicking off the safety, looking at it for a while, before raising it to his own head.

"Piko what..."

"This is the only way you'll forgive me," Piko said, before the bang echoed in our ears.

-MEANWHILE-

Meiko's P.O.V

The corridors down to the southern wing were deserted, all having headed over to track down Kaito. He'd be fine, I knew that. The dude wore a scarf when it was 42° Celsius for god sake.

I needed to find Luka though, I needed to help her. She'd be in danger without my help. I headed down the corridor.

I turned down the hall, before spying Kaito, slumped on the ground. He coughed blood and I froze.

"You're really stupid, you know that," A voice stated, "If you'd ambushed me, you'd have had a better chance."

"I'm not a coward," Kaito spat, "I don't ambush people."

"Ambushing isn't cowardly," The man continued, a foot grinding into Kaito's head, the man appearing in sight, "It's intelligent, unlike you."

I whipped out my gun, not hesitating as I pulled the trigger. The bullet whizzed through the air and the man raised his hand into the shot. He closed his hand around the bullet before holding it out.

"Meiko, run," Kaito said quietly from where he lay, "He's not human."

"I figured," I murmured, before shooting repeatedly. The bullets all flew into the man's palm, before he dropped them on the ground.

"Ah, this must be your girlfriend," The man said, "She's stupid enough to be a match for you."

"Well you're ugly enough to be a match for a toilet seat," I retorted, causing Kaito to smile slightly, before the man's foot smashed back into his head.

"Just because you're a smart arse doesn't mean you're smart." The man said.

I sighed, "Oh, wow, are you saying you like my arse? Well, this is unexpected..." I pretended to be embarrassed, "I'm sorry, sir, but I already have a boyfriend..."

"You do realise, by challenging me, your signing your own death wish?" The man asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Oh, I know," I said, "But there was never any harm in trying."

-MEANWHILE-

Yuma's P.O.V

The swarms of UTAUs had stopped, but I couldn't move my leg; the knee seemed to be locked in place. Miku was lying on the ground, clutching her shoulder in pain, eyes closed as tears fell from her eyes.

"Miku..." I said quietly, hobbling over to her and offering her my hand. She took it with her good hand, standing up.

"I'm alive," She breathed.

I nodded, "So am I." I wiped the blood from her shoulder, "Do we have any canteens?"

"Yeah," Miku nodded, and she supported me as we hobbled inside, wincing at how I had to lean on her shoulder. I slumped down in the jet hanger, not wanting to walk all the way back to the control room. Miku walked off, grabbing a canteen and returning.

I ripped off my tie, "You first."

She nodded, kneeling down as I dampened my tie, wiping the blood off her shoulder. She winced, but let me wipe it away and remove the bullet; it was too far in. She took my tie, lifting up my pants leg gently and wiping off the blood. The bullet had wedged itself in my knee, locking it.

"Oh god, I don't want to get that out," She said, screwing up her face, "It's right near the bone."

"Just do it," I told her. She looked at up me for a second before nodding.

I threw my head back as water went all the way to the bone, spreading through the wound. I bit my lip so hard it drew blood, as I didn't want to yell.

The bullet fell on the floor with a thud, and I breathed out, my lip stained with blood.

"Did it really hurt that much?" Miku winced.

"Stop faking," I said, "You're a sadist, you're enjoying watching it."

"Not with you," She said quietly, before leaning forward and licking the blood off my bottom lip. I stared at her as she edged away from me, flushing pink.

"I know this isn't the time," She sighed, "But... We're both alive... And I can't help but love the fact that when we get out of here, when we win this war, we'll both be alive together."

I pulled her back to me, and our lips locked. Her tongue slipped inside my mouth and I felt electricity shoot down me, only to be interrupted by a loud screech. We separated instantly, and I swore to god I'd kill whoever was responsible for the screeching.

After all... It was our first kiss.

"What was that?" I asked.

"I'll go look," She said, standing, "Your leg's too damaged."

She poked her head out, "Oh! Gumi!"

She turned back to me, "It's Gumi; she's here with some of the prisoners, they ran out of room in the hovercraft."

Gumi entered, three young kids following her. One of them a young boy with spiky green hair, clinging to Gumi's leg.

"God, what happened to you two?" Gumi asked.

"Fifteen odd UTAUs is what happened," Miku sighed, "I don't think Yuma will be able to walk; you're more experienced at first aid, maybe you should take a look?"

Gumi nodded, "You should go get the first aid kit in the command room, I'll bandage you both up."

-MEANWHILE-

Len's P.O.V

The gunshot hadn't come from Piko's gun, it had come from mine. I'd shot the gun out of Piko's hand.

The gun now lay on the floor useless, and Piko stared at me.

"That way you can't hurt us, or yourself." I said.

"Why?" Piko asked.

"Because," I said, "I can't just let you kill yourself, Piko. You're stronger than this, we both know that."

"I'm not human anymore," Piko said quietly, "I'm... I don't know... A machine... A freak... Both..."

"Can you still think for yourself? Do you still feel for others?" I asked, and Piko looked at me, "Because, Piko, that's the only thing that separates us from machines. Machines can be programmed to program themselves, to rule humans, make decisions based on facts; but humans have the power to make decisions from nothing. The ability to feel."

"Then..." Piko said, "In an operation that was supposed to make me a machine... I think I finally became human..."

"You've always been human, Piko," I smiled.

Piko looked to us, "You guys need to get out of here."

I nodded, "You're coming with us."

"No," Piko shook his head, "I have something important to do."

I looked at him for a few seconds before nodding, "Okay."

"Len, before you go," Piko said, "We've always been brothers, and we always will be."

I nodded, "I know."

Piko smiled at me, before we exited. Grabbing Rin's hand, we raced down the corridors, pushing through doors.

Three guards appeared and I shot them all simultaneously, before tugging Rin down to the hanger. I pushed open the thick door.

"IT'S US!" I yelled, flinching at the sound of a gun being clicked off.

"Len!" Gumi shrieked, running forwards and hugging me tightly, before starting to sob, "Y-y-y-you're... A-a-a-alive..." She hiccuped in between words, hugging me tighter. I decided I wouldn't tell Gumi what Piko was. It would just upset her more.

"Has everyone turned up yet?" I asked.

"Meiko and Kaito haven't yet," Gumi said, "But besides that, yes."

My stomach twisted; Meiko didn't know Luka was dead yet...

"Any major injuries?" I asked.

"Miku got shot in the shoulder, but she'll heal. Yuma got shot in the knee and will never walk properly again and Ann's thigh is bleeding, but besides that, we're good." Gumi said, "We also managed to rescue over fifty prisoners."

I breathed, "That's good."

Gumi smiled, "Yeah! It is! And now you and Rin are back! So the mission was a double success!"

I didn't want to spoil her mood. We went off inside, and Rin gasped.

"You guys put together an army, high-jacked a fighter jet and hovercraft and fought your way through hundreds, just to save me?" She asked.

"No," I corrected her, "_I _put together an army (okay, Miku did, but still), _I_ high-jacket a fighter jet and a hovercraft and _I _fought my way through hundreds, just to save you."

Rin grinned at me, wrapping her arms around my neck, "That's an awful lot for just one person to do."

"It was worth it," I told her, pressing my lips to her. No images came into my mind, it was free of her memories. Noting this, I pushed my tongue into her mouth, moving my lips against hers as my arms circled her waist.

"Oh eww," A voice interrupted and we split instantly, looking up at where Miku stood, "You guys should make sure you're alone before sucking face."

"We _were _alone," I said under my breath and Rin giggled, before I addressed Miku, "What is it, Miku, dear?"

"Nothing," She said, "I'm just thinking you ought to work on your technique, Lenny." I scowled at her, so she grinned.

"Miku," Gumi said, "They haven't seen each other for a while, just leave them be."

"Why?" Miku asked.

"So they can continue sucking face- uh..." Gumi caught my glare, "Um..."

All the girls were giggling now.

I rolled my eyes, laughing along with them. Before we heard the call over the speaker.

"Self-destruct; activating in five minutes."

-MEANWHILE-

Kaito's P.O.V

"Self-destruct?" Meiko mumbled from where she lay on the ground. Leon had served us both a lot of pain, with his weird, mutated hand. I was slumped on my side, gazing over at Meiko. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to move.

"What fool..." Leon began, before his eyes narrowed, he turned, walking off. I edged up, before shuffling towards Meiko.

"We have to leave," I told her, grabbing her waist and hoisting myself up, using the wall, before helping her up.

"It hurts... Everywhere..." She groaned, wincing.

"I know," I said, "It should take three minutes to get back to the hovercraft, if they're still there."

"They won't be," Meiko told me, "They'll leave us."

"We don't know that," I said, limping against the wall and dragging her with me, "We have to try."

"But it hurts..." She said.

"Do it for Luka," I encouraged, "C'mon."

She nodded, grunting as we went.

"Three minutes to self-destruct." The voice said. My thoughts drifted to the hundred prisoners and I felt a pang of guilt; why couldn't I save them all?

I had to save Meiko at least.

"We won't make it," Meiko said again.

"Shut up," I growled at her, walking normally, despite the pain.

"Kaito-" She began, but I lifted her off the floor, hurrying down the corridor. My legs felt like they were going to fall beneath me, I kept pushing. I pushed through the heavy doors, breathing in relief when I saw the hovercraft still there.

"HURRY!" Len yelled from the opening.

"Self-destruct in one minute. 59... 58..."

The moment I got close enough, I threw Meiko to Len, who was knocked back.

"GO!" I yelled. Meiko looked at me as the door closed, the engines whirring. My clothes whipped up around me, as the hovercraft lifted off. I saw a boy with silver hair exit into the hanger, a cord trailing from under his hospital gown. I thought he was going to interfer, but instead, he slammed down a button that opened the hanger.

The engine whirred, and I saw Meiko, Len and Gumi looking out at the boy and I. We both attempted smiles, before the overwhelming heat took us, until there was nothing left at all...

-MEANWHILE-

Len's P.O.V

Gumi collapsed onto my shoulder instantly, sobbing loudly. As the explosive cloud remained, we all stared blankly at what used to be the UTAU headquarters. Meiko began crying too, and I gulped, knowing that after she saw Luka, she'd cry even more.

And as I looked at the explosion, I knew that Piko had never really betrayed me. That the important thing he'd had to do had won us the war.

"Goodbye, brother," I murmured.

**Thanks for reading this chapter and staying with the series! Please review and favourite! Remember, I'll be writing two extra chapters; one for Rin and Len's memories, to clear up any confusions you may have, and another as an epilogue to what happens after this. I hope you read both! :3 Thank you all so much for reading this! **

**The vote for what Vocaloid fan fiction I'll do next is now closed, this winning fan fiction is:**

**CiRCuS MoNSTeR**

**(Thanks to Mizune and my friend for voting!)**


	10. Bonus Chapter - Memories

**A/N: Thank you all so much for reading the Crimson War series! I love all the people who review, fave and follow! It makes my day!**

**There have been some loopholes in logic so far (like why Len can see Rin's memories but not his own) so this should explain it! **

**Oh, and there's a little bit on when Len meets Piko, just for Mizune, who's reviewed this god knows how many times and has stuck with the story! I'm eternally grateful :3**

**Also, thank anyone who's sticked with the story since the start! I've already started my Death Note fan fic, if anyone's interested. ;)**

**Note: This chapter is from Rin/Len's P.O.V, depending on the part. I'll note when it changes to Rin's P.O.V at Crypton. **

"Get in there, boy," The gruff voice said, forcing me through the cell door. I fell to my scraped knees, my hands tied behind my back with thick ropes. My head slammed against the cold, cement wall.

My chest fell, my lungs exhaling the cold air. So it was night. I should sleep. I shuffled around on my feet, falling against the wall with a loud thud. Across the way, other prisoners screamed and shouted at the guards for food and water refills.

My stomach grumbled and I looked to the bowl of food. I refused to eat it. I wasn't going to eat like a dog.

The only time I did eat was when I was moments away from fainting, because UTAU didn't give a damn if I keeled over and died. After all, that's what happened to the majority of us; we were just experiments to them. Games to play with.

Well, not me. I refused to be. Didn't stop them injecting crazy crap into my veins though. Sometimes, I hoped I'd develop hulk-like powers and be able to smash down the wall and escape. _What am I kidding? My power is probably the ability to talk to flowers, knowing my luck._

The guards were patrolling down the hallway, looking incredibly annoyed as they slipped more food under bars.

"Oh, nice guard!" I called, making my best attempt to wave, "Yoohoo! Over here!"

"What do you want, crazy?" The guard asked.

"My nails are getting a bit long, can you manicure them for me?" I asked sweetly, tilting my head sideways. The door flung open and I didn't even have time to wipe the smile off my face as the hand slammed my head into the wall.

"You wanna go, punk?" He asked.

I breathed, blood dripping from my forehead, "Now that you mention it, I do really need to go to the bathroom."

Knuckles came down on my face, and I fell to the floor head first. I couldn't do anything but retort with smart comments, with my hands tied up, it was impossible to fight back.

"Not so tough now, are you?" The guard's spit hit my cheek and I screwed up my face. Gross.

I said nothing as the blood continued dripping from my forehead. The guard smirked, so did all the others watching. The guard exited my cell, slamming the door behind him as he and others began to laugh. I looked up at them from the corner of my eye. I swore to god, if I ever got out of here, I'd ensure their measely ends.

"Rin," A voice called. My eyes were closed, my body slack against the wall. Who the hell was Rin?

"Rin, you'll be late, c'mon," The voice said. Wait, was I Rin? Was that my real name?

"Okay, okay, coming!" A girl's voice said, a lot clearer than the other. It was soft and gentle, not gruff like the guards that kicked me daily. I opened my eyes, wanting to see such a foreign girl.

The voices cut off, replaced by the sounds of heavy footsteps walking along the corridor. Where was she? Where was this Rin?

Had she left already?

I shuffled in my cell, standing up and almost banging my head on the low ceiling. I'd been moved to one of the smaller cells as punishment; I barely had room to pace. I managed it though, even if it was just stamping on the spot, I'd always pace if they moved me.

I stomped on the spot, clapping in time, before singing, "Olay, olay!"

The guards glared at me so I kept clapping behind my back and yelling instead of singing, stamping as loudly as possible.

"Shut up, kid! Do you want us to cut your legs and hands off?" The guard threatened.

"If you do, I'll be completely useless in battle," I grinned, stamping and clapping, "Think of it this way, least I'm stamping to a beat."

Seconds later, I was in an even smaller cell, with absolutely no light. It was only slightly bigger than a cardboard box, with a few holes for air. No light at all.

_I'm not claustrophobic_, I told myself over and over, _I don't mind small spaces, I don't mind small spaces._

"LET ME OUT OF HERE!" I screamed, thrashing in the small space, I sobbed, "Please. Let me out of here. It's too small." My breathing quickened, "I-I-I can't b-b-breathe."

"Shut up!" A guard yelled, thumping against the wall. I flinched back, tightening into a ball. I sobbed, why was it so small? _The walls are closing in, I can't breathe, I can't move..._

"Quit your whining," The guard said, "Seriously, shut up."

I continued sobbing.

"Look, kid, shut up and I'll take you back to your normal cell, okay?" The guard promised, sighing. I tried to hold my sobs back; anything to get out of here. The roof fell open and I stood, the guard took my ropes, dragging me back. He threw me back into the cell and I looked up at him. He seemed more a soldier than a guard, with his eccentric blue hair and scarf, tucked in under his jacket.

"Th-th-th-thank you," I stammered, breathing in at being in a cell in which I could lie down in and fit in.

"Just shut up," The guard said, before walking off. I pulled my knees up to my chest, burying my face in them and closing my eyes. The sound around me disappeared, replaced by a beautiful soft singing.

The girl's voice echoed in my head as she sang to a tune I didn't know. I wanted to lift my head and see who was singing, but I feared she would disappear if I did. I kept my head down, my fears melting at her voice.

"Who are you?" I asked quietly. The voice stopped singing.

"Who's there?" It asked.

"I don't know," I said, "I don't have a name. What's your name?"

"R-R-Rin," The voice stammered, "Where are you hiding?"

"I'm not," I murmured, "I'm just sitting here, in my cell."

"Cell?" She asked, "What?"

I leant against the wall, stretching my legs out, "I don't know, I don't think we're in the same place."

"Is that possible?"

"What?" I frowned.

"To talk to someone who isn't in the same place as you." She replied.

"I don't know," I said, "Supposedly yes. Where are you?"

"Home," She said, "With papa and mama. We just went out for the day, you?" I paused; 'go out for the day'? Did people even do that in current times? Was it even possible? Was there anywhere to 'go out' to?

"I'm just sitting here," I said, "I don't really have any plans. There's nowhere I can go."

Days passed in a haze. Sometimes they did that. The only memories I'd have would be pain, sometimes bruises on my sides, arms and legs that I could never remember getting, wounds from where I was stabbed with needles and tubes; sometimes entire months vanished.

I only knew time was passing because of Rin; she'd tell me when a new week began.

"Draw a circle," She told me. I leant forward, drawing a circle on the ground.

"Now, from the top of the circle on the right side, draw a stick down." She told me. I did as told.

"What's that?" I asked, looking at the shape.

"It's 'A'," She told me, "The first letter of the alphabet."

"Alpha what?" I frowned, looking at the 'A'.

"Alphabet; all the letters. You can use letters to read and write."

"What?" I frowned, laughing slightly.

"With writing, you can draw letters to put down what you're saying. And reading is understanding those letters." She explained.

"How many 'letters' are there?" I asked.

"Twenty six; why?"

"Tell me all of them."

I was nine, apparently. They'd changed my documented details, so that meant I was either dying of some disease (and I didn't feel I was) or I'd aged. I was hunched over, tracing the word in the dirt. R-I-N. Rin.

Sometimes I drew her name when I was bored, sometimes when I was lonely. I talked to her any time I could, sometimes calling out her name in hope of response. Sometimes, I heard her crying. I didn't know why. She wouldn't tell me.

Sometimes, she murmured stuff; some of it about her mother, some of it about sleeping for a long time. Sometimes, she murmured 'I'll miss you'. She'd named me L*, since that was my favourite letter.

_"Hey, Rin!" I'd yelled excitedly, "I just realised my thumb and finger on my left hand are like an 'L'!" _

_Rin had laughed, "Silly, that's how you tell it's your left hand." _

I traced over her name again, sighing. She hadn't laughed for months.

"Rin?" I said quietly, "Rin, can you hear me?"

No reply came, she couldn't hear me. I knew if she could, because if she could, I'd hear her crying. I buried my face in my knees, and, for the first time in my life, I cried because I was sad. Not because the pain was too much, not because I was lonely, but because I was sad, because my heart ached. I needed her to talk to me.

"Oi, boy," The blue-haired guard told me firmly, "If you keep it up, you'll wake up everyone else."

I looked up at him, his blue eyes weren't as harsh as his tone, in fact, compared to the others, his tone was gentle. Making his eyes almost caring.

"What do you need?" He asked, staring at me as the tears continued dripping down my cheeks.

"Nothing you can give me." I replied.

"Just answer the question, boy," The guard said firmly.

"I need to get out of here," I said.

The guard's eyes stayed on mine for ages, "Get out of here?"

"I've been here for nine years," I said, "Never once seeing anything except these damn grey walls, cruel guards and steel bars. Do you know how that feels?"

"There's nothing worth seeing out there," He said, "Besides, in a year, you'll forget everything-"

"I don't want to!" I screamed, slamming my head against the wall. _I don't want to forget her..._

"There's nothing worth remembering."

"Yes..." I said, "She's worth remembering..."

"Who?" The guard frowned.

"Rin..." I said quietly, "Rin's worth remembering... You think I'm insane... That I talk to myself every day... But I'm not, I swear, I can hear her... She... She taught me how to read... How to write..." I choked on my tears, "She taught me there is hope, there is a tomorrow."

The man stared at me, his eyes boring into me.

"I... I have to see her..." I said, "I can't live my life in here... She's crying... She needs me... I need to comfort her..."

"When your memories are wiped, anyone you're connected to will forget you, you realise that, right?" He said, "This girl will forget you entirely."

I sobbed, "I know. I-I just w-w-want to s-s-see her... I-I-I d-d-don't want to d-d-die not knowing her f-f-face."

"You're not going to die, stupid."

"YES I AM!" I yelled, "With no memories, no personality, no emotions, I'm not alive! I'm an empty shell, I'm not me... None of us..."

I gazed at the other prisoners, who either slept or stared blankly, "None of us are alive."

The man stared at me, before walking over to my cell and wrenching open the door. I stared up at him from the corner, where was he taking me?

He walked off to the next cell, wrenching it open, "What are you waiting for, boy?"

I scrambled to my feet, sprinting out and looking at the man, was he serious? Was he really going to rescue us?

He took a knife from his belt, slicing off our ropes, before the alarm went off. It did that if more than five cell doors were open at the same time.

"GO!" The man yelled, and we thundered down the hall. Most of us fell over on the way; we weren't physically adept and had trouble sprinting on our own. He helped us. Out of the seventy cells he opened, only fifty of us remained as we filtered into the hovercraft.

I slammed the straps down on one of the girls, before climbing into my own seat and tilting my head back. I didn't know how to prepare myself for lift off, but I'd never liked being taken on the medical bed down to the lab; the momentum made me sick.

As soon as the hovercraft started I groaned.

"Oh god," I whined, "I hate this..."

The girl beside me giggled, "You don't know that yet, we haven't even taken off."

"I hate it already," I said.

"Just enjoy the adrenaline," She advised me as we took off, I leant forward, the staps holding me in place.

"I'm gonna puke," I groaned.

"Eww, no," She said, screwing up her face, "Okay, okay, um... How about we sing a song or something? Help you get your mind off of things."

"What type of song?" I asked, trying to keep my breakfast - if you could call it breakfast - down.

"Oh! I know one!" She began singing a soft, gentle tune that I soon caught on to. I closed my eyes, imagining I was singing with Rin... I was shocked at how similar they sounded...

"W-w-what's your name?" I asked, looking at her.

"I don't have one," She said, "Neither do you."

I looked down, I always had 'L'. If that counted as a name.

"I suppose you can call me Lenka," She said, "Since that's the name of my mother."

I looked to her. She knew her mother's name?

"She came to visit me, you know," Lenka sighed, "Just before they turned me into this, she visited me, told me everything would be okay."

"She gave you up?" I asked.

"She had to," Lenka explained, "She and my older brothers were starving, they needed money to buy food from the UTAU resource shops. I doubt they're still alive, actually."

It was true, that despite being prisoners, experiments really, those of us who lived often out-lived normal people.

"What did they do to you?" I asked.

"Basic stuff," She said, "Gave me a few scars, put some crazy crap in my bloodstream, before throwing me back into the cell, occasionally taking me in for tests to see if my blood was reacting. All routine."

I looked to my feet, exactly what had happened to me... The hovercraft lurched.

"UGH," I moaned, "Oh, oh, god..."

My breakfast rose up in my throat, dripping down my chin.

"Oh ew!" Lenka complained, "That smells!"

"S-s-sorry," I stammered, thankful it was only dribbling down my chin and not all over the floor; it was still disgusting though.

The hovercraft lurched forward again and I let my head fall between my knees, trying to keep the food down.

"Man," Lenka sighed, tearing off on her sleeves and handing it to me, "Wipe that stuff of your mouth, it's gross."

I nodded, wiping it away and folding it over, keeping a clean part to my mouth. She patted my back sympathetically.

"God, you're pale as." She sighed, "Oh well, when we land, I'm sure the nice guard will get you some water from somewhere."

I nodded half-heartedly, before going back to keeping the vomit under control.

By the time my tenth birthday was dawning, over half of the escapees had left, but Lenka and I remained, as we didn't really know what to do. Besides, we liked Kaito, he was fun. Especially when Meiko came to visit.

"Now, Lenka, boy," Kaito had said, "Stay out of sight, okay? I have a friend coming over."

"Oh god, not Meiko again," Lenka rolled her eyes, "You're seriously still trying to woo her?"

Kaito smiled, "Haven't I told you before, Lenka? Never give up."

Of course, as usual, Kaito's attempt was a complete failure, resulting in Meiko shoving his head into the wall and leaving. But the smile on Kaito's face never once left; he really was overly in love with the woman; so persistant it hurt him, and us (cause we were laughing so hard) for him to do so. It was the day before my tenth birthday; the day before I forgot everything.

"Kaito, Lenka," I said quietly, "What will happen to me when I forget?"

"You can stay here with us," Lenka offered, "We'll help you restore your memories and everything."

I shook my head, remembering Rin; I didn't want to forget her, to betray her. I knew if I stayed, I end up feeling things for Lenka, and I didn't want that. I wanted to be with Rin, wherever she was.

"I don't want to," I said. Lenka smiled sadly.

Kaito said slowly, "What if I left you with a mission?"

I frowned, looking up at him, "Mission?"

"I'll leave you with a document I found. It has details on the current status of the war, and a summary on its past. I'll leave you with two full canteens, three large food packs and two working, fully-loaded guns. Whatever you decide to do defines the new you; you may join UTAU, may join Crypton, you may even find your way back to us," Kaito explained, "But whatever happens, you're responsible. The real you. Even if you lose your memories, your heart will never disappear."

I stared at him, before nodding, "I'll do it."

"You idiot!" Lenka screamed at me, "You do realise you'll just be getting yourself killed!"

"I die when I turn ten, Lenka," I said, "No matter what, _I _die. I won't exist anymore, I'll be someone else."

Lenka began to sob, "That means I'll die too..."

I hugged her tightly, our sobs melting into one. And that was the last I ever saw of Lenka, the last I ever remembered...

*** No Death Note reference meant...**

**Now, for Rin's memories, at Crypton. **

It was early morning, the sun glinted through my curtains. The moment I wrenched the curtains away, I sighed. The blue sky gleamed back at me beautifully, clouds floating through the sky lazily, the sun shining down through my window. I flicked off the screen.

The window went black, and I pulled the curtains back. I hated this fake life. Living through every day, looking at fake views of grassy meadows with blue skies; I knew that really, outside, the sky was a blood red, stained with the blood of millions. Least, that was the rumour.

"Rin, honey!" My mother called, causing me to lift my head from where I was looking through my book shelf, "We're going out with Luki!"

Luki again, it was always Luki. When I grew up, when this war ended, Luki and I would take over Crypton, as _husband and wife_. It was only to be expected; my parents were the leader's of Crypton, Luki's parents the owners of all the farmers that kept our crops growing. Together, Luki and I were the heirs to Crypton's empire.

And yet... Why did I always feel like my heart was somewhere else? Sure, eight wasn't an age where you could say you were in love, or even liked a guy officially, yet I'd always felt a part of me was missing; a mirror image that was never reflected when I looked at myself, a missing part of the puzzle. I suppose, in books, that's what they called heart ache.

I smiled to myself sadly, looking up at the mirror on the wall. It did seem a part of me was missing.

"Rin!" Mum called, "C'mon! You'll be late!"

"Okay, okay, coming!" I yelled back, my gaze dropping from the mirror as I pushed through into the metallic corridor. Considering how normal my room looked, how it was what you'd expect from a teenage girl's room in the 21st century, the corridors seemed alien.

The cold, metallic sounds of walking on them, how cold they felt under my fingers; it was uncanny. Like I'd stepped into an entirely different dimension. I felt squished, claustrophobic, as I walked down the small, thin corridors; funny, I'd never felt like this before. Never like the walls were going to squish me.

I entered the living room, which, like my room, was 'normal'. My mother was greeting Luki's mother, and my father leading Luki in.

"Ah! Rin!" My father said, his eyes glinting, his blonde hair in his face, his blue eyes shining, "Good, you came out, how about you and Luki talk a bit before we head out? I need to have a discussion with Mrs Megurine."

I nodded, as Luki stepped forward. His strange, pink hair fell over his face, his eyes avoiding mine as he sat on the couch, hands folded in his lap. My dad talked to Mrs Megurine, while my mum smiled at us.

"Shall I get you two drinks?" She asked.

"Yes please, Mrs Yowane," Luki nodded. Despite my parents being officially married, my mother kept her surname. I'd never asked why, in fact, I'd barely wondered why.

"How about you, Rin?" Mum asked.

"No, I'm fine," I smiled at her, before sitting beside Luki. He wore a shirt and jeans, and the shirt was so loose it didn't even touch his skin. Mum lowered the cup down onto the table and Luki smiled at her, before sipping at it.

Luki and I never said much, I had a feeling he felt the same as me; incomplete. He never even looked at me, or anyone else for that matter of fact. I'd never seen his eyes fixed on someone intently. He either didn't care, or just couldn't bring himself to.

I sat with my hands folded in my lap, gazing up at the window, with it's fake view. Why did everything have to be fake around here...

I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling. I'd turned off the view completely, leaving the black screen visible. The door remained open, revealing the corridor, and the light bulb flickered.

This was what it was really like; this was as real as I could make this sandbox of a room. I knew of the war, I'd read about it. The horrors, the tragedies; I knew it was all happening, and it was all I ever thought about. The real world; what was outside the imaginary paradise, outside the heavenly sandbox.

I closed my eyes and began to sing. At least that was real. At least every failure of a note was true, and I didn't have to fake being forget.

"Who are you?" A voice interrupted me. I shot up, looking around the room frantically.

"Who's there?" I asked, hoping I'd just imagined it.

"I don't know," The voice replied, "I don't have a name. What's your name?"

"R-R-Rin," I stammered, looking under my desk, behind my book case, before muttering, "Where are you hiding?"

"I'm not," The voice replied dully, "I'm just sitting here, in my cell."

I stopped. Cell? As I turned back to my bed, I almost had a heart attack. In the mirror was a boy, wearing thin, greyish green clothes, his hands behind his back. His head was dropped, his blonde hair falling over in a cascade of dirty yellow.

"Cell?" I asked, "What?"

"I don't know," He said, the boy in the mirror stretched his legs out, "I don't think we're in the same place."

I sat down, looking at the mirror, clutching my head in confusion.

"Is that even possible?" I asked.

"What?" He asked.

"To talk to someone who isn't in the same place as you," I said, _I'm going mad. This isn't possible. _

"I don't know," He said, "Supposedly yes. Where are you?"

"Home," I said, "With papa and mama. We just went out for the day, you?"

"I'm just sitting here," He replied, "I don't really have any plans. There's nowhere I can go."

Then, the reflection that reflected off of nothing faded, so did his voice. I was officially insane.

And yet, every time I heard his voice, every time I saw his image, I talked to him. I told him how days and weeks had passed, how time was slowly moving, despite him not feeling so. We were both prisoners, I supposed. I was in an imaginary sandbox of beauty, he was in a prison of hell. He told me about things that happened to him, but I never told him about my life.

He may be a spy for UTAU, after all.

"Draw a circle," I told him one day, leaning back on my bed and smiling at the reflection. I knew he couldn't see me, this sweet, kind boy, but I could see him. I could see how the smiles broke onto his face when he heard my voice. He leant forward, drawing a circle with his finger. It was one of the rare times his hands weren't tied behind his back; he'd behaved lately, so they let him.

"Now, from the top of the circle on the right side, draw a stick down." I said, leaning forward slightly to inspect his drawing.

"What's that?" He asked, gazing at the floor, before looking up to nowhere, his blue eyes falling directly onto the reflection; he didn't realise they met mine.

"It's 'A'," I explained, "The first letter of the alphabet."

"Alpha-what?" He frowned at me, his blue eyes still shining.

"Alphabet," I explained, "All the letters. You can use letters to read and write."

"What?" He continued frowning, laughing at his own ignorance.

"With writing, you can draw letters to put down what you're saying," I explained, "And reading is understanding those letters."

He paused, looking down at the 'A'.

"How many 'letters' are there?" He asked.

"Twenty-six," I said, before asking, "Why?"

"Tell me all of them," He beamed.

I smiled back, starting to explain them to him. We went through them one at a time; B, C, D... We were up to H when the guards began dragging him away for his daily check-up.

"Let me go!" He yelled, struggling against their grip. It was rare we were able to talk; no wonder he wanted to stay. His voice faded away, before I began sobbing. Why couldn't he be the one in Luki's place? The one that was free?

I stopped talking to him when my mother died. The Dome was full of fake rain and clouds for the funeral, in which everyone turned up, paying their respects, dressed in black. It was my job to go hand-in-hand with Luki, my promise to her. I spent my entire time crying, whereas Luki just sat there blankly. I wanted to hit him, I wanted to hurt him for not caring.

Days melted together, and I knew how L felt; no sense of time, just and endless string of blank days, blank days of nothingness.

"Rin, are you okay?" He'd ask me whenever he could, sometimes begging me to respond in something that wasn't a sob. On my nineth birthday, my father told me a few words.

"On your tenth, you'll be put to sleep. We'll wake you when the war is over."

This saddened me more, I'd never see L again. He'd probably die in prison over the time; how was I supposed to cope with this? Dreams constantly woke me up at night, the happiest being of UTAU capturing me and throwing me into a cell opposite L. I didn't care that I'd be tortured, altered, hit like he had; I just wanted to see him in person. Meet his eyes. Know he loved me too. Sometimes, I tried to tell him through my sobs, but I never could. Eventually, he just stopped talking to me. My last year before sleep being spent alone. Was he dead?

"Ms. Kagamine," A voice spoke at my door. I was still hunched over. It was Ms. Akita, our house-keeper. She'd once been a prisoner of UTAU, "It's time."

I nodded from my bed, standing up slowly. I hadn't bothered changing clothes in months, but Ms. Akita helped me dress in new, good clothes and wash the stink off my body; she even combed my long hair. She led me down the corridor, towards the thick door at the end. The chamber; the place where I'd be frozen in sleep for years upon years.

"It's set to automatically awake you on your twenty-first birthday, if you don't wake earlier," Ms. Akita explained, as we pushed through the door. The crate-like container was perched on a sugery table, my dad smiling sadly at me as I passed him.

_If you haven't left this world already, God, _I prayed quietly, _let me wake in his arms. _

I stepped inside the crate, the door shutting. I blinked a few times, before drifting off to one, clear, crisp word, coming from his voice.

"Rin..."

**I suppose this is really a prologue to the story... Now that I've finished the promised parts of the chapter, I'll do Mizune's bonus! This is also for all the other Piko fans' who's hearts I broke... xD**

**Len's P.O.V again. He's about 11 now.**

The streets were empty, besides from the usual crowd. A couple UTAUs, who I either shot dead or just ignored, and a few Cryptons, who I always took the chance to either knock out, or kill for their food supplies that they were so proud of they actually had them in their pockets all the time. Yet, it was what always got them killed.

Ironic, really.

I saw two Cryptons crowding around something in an alley; was it food? I swung my guns up, shooting both Cryptons in the head. They fell to the ground.

I waltzed over, taking the food packs from their pockets. I heard a shuffling at the end of the alley. Looking up, I saw a boy about a year older than me, his silver hair grimey, his shirt three sizes too big. His blue eyes trembled in fear as he eased up the wall away from me.

My eyes scanned him quickly; nope, no food packs or weapons; but he did look like an UTAU. His father or elder brother probably had the gun then.

"Don't kill me," He pleaded, "Please, please, please, don't k-k-kill me..."

He was clutching his lower abdomen, before he slumped back, his eyes rolling back and his eyelids closing. I stood up slowly, walking over to the boy. I took his wrist, feeling his faint pulse.

I didn't need any more motivation to throw him over my shoulder and take him back to the skyscraper.

When the boy finally came to, he was just as afraid as before.

"Where am I?" He asked, "Who are you?"

"My name's Len," I explained, "Hey, it's okay, stop shaking, I'm not going to hurt you."

The boy kept shaking in the corner.

"I'm scared," The boy shook, "Where are my brothers?"

Tears began falling from his eyes, so I offered him a hug.

"I don't know, but I promise I'll take care of you," I said, "If you want, I can become your brother."

"I..." The boy looked at me, before accepting my hug, "Th-th-thanks, Len."

"Hey, it's okay. What's your name?"

"P-P-Piko. Piko Utatane."

Piko and I spent most of our time either talking or hunting together, as we both liked bumping off UTAUs. A part of me felt it was wrong, and that I'd stop soon, but Piko took enjoyment in playing with his prey, toying with them, threatening them and making them hurt before killing them.

It kinda scared me.

Still, Piko and I were close now; friends, brothers, whatever you wanted to call it.

We had each other's backs in any fight that it counted, we'd fight each other about stupid things; like which gun was better, or which Crypton girl had been cuter. Just like brothers.

And, on my twelth birthday, we made a pact. To always be brothers, no matter what, and to always have each other's backs.

**I hope you liked it Mizune! Thank you - everyone - for reading, reviewing, following and favouriting! If you're yet to review or fave, it'd be awesome if you could ^^**

**ONE MORE CHAPTER :O **

**I'll be releasing the first chapter of CiRCuS MoNSTeR soon too, but I may focus more on my Death Note fic (it's got two faves and I haven't updated it with the second chapter yet... Heh...). I hope some Crimson War readers will read my other fan fics!**


	11. Epilogue

**A/N: This is the last chapter! (Insert mindless flailing and spam here). I'd like to give on last thanks to all those who've followed, reviewed and favourited! This chapter is for all those people; and I thank you imensely! Please read my next VOCALOID fic CiRCuS MoNSTeR, which I will start on as soon as I upload this chapter and Shinigami Wish #2. **

**I'll list everyone who's supported me, reviewed, favourited and followed this series at the end! Thank you all! I've had over 700 views; this is due to readers sticking with the series and recommending it to others; so I must thank you all! **

-6 YEARS LATER-

I looked at the same old crimson sky, died with the blood of the fallen soldiers of the war, and the aftermath. The blood of those who betrayed and the blood of those who sacrificed for the ones they loved. For the ones that still love them.

Rin and I stood on top of a familiar skyscraper, our hands lying on top of each other's. The crimson sun was setting on the sandy landscape, and we knew there was going to be a tomorrow. There were no gunshots resounding in the distance, no yells, nothing.

Just the beautiful silence.

"Hey, lovebirds," A gruff voice said behind us. We turned and saw Meiko, who held a bottle of sake in her hand, her eyes drooping. Her hair was a mess, as it had been for five years, "You do realise what day it is, right?"

I nodded quietly, turning my gaze back to the crimson sun. Our twentieth birthday. It had been a decade since I forget everything the last time, and I didn't want it to happen again. Rin's fingers squeezed mine.

"Just sayin'," She said, "Case you forgot."

"How could we forget, Meiko?" Rin asked, a slight edge to her voice. She was worried, heck, everyone was worried. Even Meiko, otherwise she wouldn't have bothered stepping outside. She was like that. Drinking and sleeping her troubles away.

"I dunno," Meiko shrugged, "Happens."

"Would you forget the most important day of your year?" Rin shot at her, I squeezed Rin's fingers.

Meiko's eyes closed momentarily, before she opened her mouth but said nothing. Shutting her mouth, she took a swig of her sake, gripped the blue scarf around her neck and headed off down the ladder.

"That wasn't really necessary, Rin," I said gently.

"I know," She sighed, "None of us can forget it; especially Meiko."

A lot of us had lost something that day; Yuma had lost his leg, Miku had lost the dream of taking a normal walk with Yuma, Meiko her sister and her lover, Al his shoulder, Ann her leg, Oliver his eye; Gumi and I had lost Piko... None of us wanted to remember that day. Rin lost her freedom that day too; the feeling of not being under pressure; the pressure everyone else had grown up with.

It had been horrible.

"We should do something special," Rin suggested, easing up onto the railing, "Something to celebrate our birthday. Just us."

"I'm not really in the mood," I sighed.

"You remembered your last set of memories just by being in UTAU," Rin said, "Who's to say that won't happen again?"

"I remembered it there because of my memories of you," I said, taking her hand in mine, "The memories of talking to you every day, hearing your voice; that's what made me remember."

She slipped off the railing, smiling as I took her in my arms.

"Oh, no, please, no sucking face," A voice interrupted. We turned and saw Miku, hands shielding her eyes. Nowadays, she wore her hair down. It was so long, that after reading some fairytales at the old 'library' as they called it, we nicknamed her Repunzel, as we couldn't call her Twin Tails.

"Dammit, Hatsune, how do you always manage to sneak up on us?" I asked.

"It's a talent," She smiled sweetly, "You guys coming down for the celebrate or what? Meiko got the sake, I got the-"

"Leeks?" I guessed and she glared at me.

"Damn, you psychic?" She asked.

"No, you're just predictable," Rin grinned.

"Whatever," Miku laughed, "Everyone's coming, so you better come down; otherwise your party won't really be a party."

Miku hopped down the ladder, leaving us on the roof.

"Shall we go?" Rin asked. I nodded, but took her in my arms first. We just stood there for a bit, silently holding each other. Her hair smelt fresh, of oranges and exotic fruits that were now a basic of everyone's life. People lived good now; the cities had public food storages, water tanks and shelters for the homeless. Your house was your house and no-one elses, and there were beds and stoves and other furniture that had never been dreamt of six years back.

This is exactly what I'd dreamt of for ten years. We headed down the ladder and into the lobby, which was now the kitchen. The fridge, stove and counters were shoved into the corner, a bean bag crowded with book shelves. A lot of our friends lazed around on the couches.

Gumi looked up from the bean bag, where she was surrounded by young kids.

"Rin! Len!" She grinned, her smile as it had always been. The kids looked up, the twelve year old, green-haired boy running over and hugging me.

"Uncle Len!" He said happily, "You came!"

"This is my house," I smiled, rubbing his head. Gumo looked up at me, smiling at me. He wasn't related to Gumi, he just idolised her. Saw her as his mother, if you wish.

"Hey, stop it, my hair was perfect a few seconds ago!" He whined and I laughed, before turning to Gumi.

"How are you dealing with your gremlins?" I asked, as more of the kids screamed my name and climbed up over my legs.

"They're sweet, if you must know," Gumi said, "S'long as I don't feed them after midnight."

I smiled back, before Gumi hugged me, "So, your twentieth, eh? You'll officially be a man!"

"I've been a man for two years," I rolled my eyes.

"Sure, sure," Gumi said, "You keep telling yourself that."

"Len!" A voice said, before knocking the air out of me in a hug.

I grunted, before addressing the eighteen year old hugging me, "Hey, Ollie."

"It's been ages!" Oliver said, "Way too long, how's the family?"

"What family?" Rin asked, "Len, have you been cheating on me?"

"N-N-No!" I stammered, "Oliver, what are you talking about?"

"Oh, you know, that pretty waitress..." I clamped my hand over Oliver's mouth.

"Sh, Oliver, your drunk, you don't know what you're talking about." I grinned and Rin laughed.

Oliver got free of my grasp, "No, no, no, I swear to drunk I'm not god... Wait.. No, that's no it..."

"I see you two are catching up already," Ann said gently, pushed in a wheelchair by Al, who leaned against it with his good arm.

Oliver smiled at his mother, but the smile didn't reach his golden eye. Nowadays, Oliver wore a black eye patch over his left eye, his blonde hair sticking up. Surprisingly, the little nerd was popular with the ladies.

One of the little girl's screamed, "It's a pirate! Save me!"

Oliver grinned, crouching down in front of the girl, "Arr, I be a pirate, who you be, fine maiden?"

The girl giggled, "I'm Olivia."

"Damn, Gumi, did you name one of your kids after me?" Oliver said, "Oh man, not sure how to respond to this..."

"Oh shut it, Ollie," Gumi said, "Stop being such an idiot."

She pushed his head away playfully.

"He can't," Olivia giggled, "Pirates are idiots!"

"Now, listen up, girly," Oliver said, his attention turning back to the golden haired girl, "What gives your the right to judge me as a pirate just because I'm one-eyed?"

The girl pushed her bangs out of her face, revealing a white eyepatch. She'd been one of the young experiments; one of the babies that had been experimented on to test if they would grow into their powers.

Oliver bent down, his face softening, "You know, I'm just like you."

"No your not," Olivia said, "Your not a girl."

"Well-" I began and Oliver glared at me. I grinned back.

"We're here!" A voice beamed from the doorway. It was Mizki, Yuma's sister. Her hair was pulled back neatly, her eyes shimmering as she pushed her brother through the door.

"Yuma!" Miku shrieked, throwing herself onto his wheelchair.

"God's sake, Miku," Yuma grunted, "You trying to kill me?"

"Well..." Miku began, but just smiled. Then the two started kissing.

"Get a room!" Oliver yelled.

"Hypocrite!" Rin and I yelled at her.

"Why are they eating each other's faces?" Olivia asked Gumi curiously.

"Hey, Miku!" I yelled, "Your technique could use a little work!"

Miku grabbed the closest thing to her, which just so happened to be a leek, and threw it at my head. I ducked, grinning broadly.

"When's Dell getting here?" Yuma asked, finally breaking Miku's kiss.

"When he feels like it," I shrugged, stretching, "You know him; he's like the dictionary meaning of 'social rebel'. Loves turning up late."

"He's perfect for Meiko," Miku said.

"Oh, god, are you talking about that Honne guy?" Meiko asked, "He's so annoying. He never shuts up and won't put down the bloody cigarette."

Rin and I smiled to ourselves, having heard something similar about Kaito in the past.

"And you never put down the bloody sake," A voice said. Dell appeared in the doorway, holding the burning cigarette in his hand as his dark eyes gazed at Meiko, his silver hair pulled up into a ponytail similar to mine.

"Well, excuse _me _for having problems in my life that only sake can solve," Meiko said, throwing her head back and chugging down the sake. Dell's younger sister, Haku, appeared in the doorway.

"Oooo, saaaake," She purred, running forwards and taking a bottle, leaning back on the couch next to Meiko and gulping it down.

"I swear..." Dell sighed, as the smoke filtered into the room.

"Oh, god, jeez, Dell; you may want lung cancer, but we don't," Rin coughed, "Leave the cigarettes outside."

"K," Dell said, "Can someone move a bed outside for me?"

"Yooooour addiction problem is wooooorse," Meiko slurred, before falling back unconscious.

"Pfft," Dell said, tossing the cigarette outside and stamping on it before entering, he kept a cigarette in his mouth, but didn't light it, instead just chewing on it. What a bad habit he had.

"Meeeeeiko," Haku giggled, poking at Meiko's shoulder, "Meeeeeeeeeiko."

Meiko was out like a light, snoring deeply. She drank only so she could have dreamless sleep; otherwise she'd talk in her sleep about Kaito and Luka. Haku and Dell's habits had no reasoning behind them, but Meiko had her reasons. It was her way of coping. Gumi's was to continue nursing younger people.

Mine? Sometimes I just cried. Rin was always there for me though, so it was okay. As long as I had her...

"MEIKO! MEIKO! MEIKO!" Haku began bouncing on the couch noisily.

"Just leave her," I said quietly, and Haku looked at me.

"But she's nooooisy," Haku whined.

"So are you," Dell sighed, hoisting up Meiko by the arms, and taking her upstairs to a bedroom where she could sleep without having Haku bothering her.

"This is already a party!" Oliver said, jumping onto the sofa next to Haku, "Pass me some?"

"Nooo," Haku slurred, "All miiine."

Oliver reached for some and got a foot in his face. Haku leant back, draining the bottle of sake.

"Miiine!"

"You've unmatured, Ollie," I laughed, "Wait, is that possible?"

"Supposedly so," Rin said, smiling.

"OKAY!" Haku yelled, jumping up onto her seat noisily, "LET'S GET THIS PARTY STAAARTED!"

-Time Skip-

A few hours later

"SHAKE THAT ASS!" Dell yelled. Complete chaos had erupted in the apartment, Haku, Rin and Miku both dancing on the table to an old song, screaming their hearts out to the song.

"EWW, why are you cheering for your own sister?" Gumi asked Dell.

"I'm not," Dell said, "I'm cheering for Rin."

"Oi!" I said, stumbling towards him, "Why are you cheering for my girlfriend?"

"Coz Miku's damned ugly-"

Miku lept off the table, smashing into Dell who groaned. Yuma and Meiko cheered.

"Replacement!" Meiko ordered. Oliver jumped onto the table and was instantly shoved off my Haku.

"Get out my way, pirate boy!" She yelled, so Oliver jumped back up and shoved her off.

"I'm the replacement!" Oliver yelled back.

"What, no!" Dell shouted, "It's gotta be a girl!"

"I'm like, totally a girl," Oliver said, putting on a girly voice as Haku shoved him over again. Rin squealed as Oliver stumbled into her.

"Get up there Gumi!" Meiko boomed.

"No way!" Gumi yelled, as Dell tried to push her onto the table, "I don't want Dell looking up my skirt!"

"So you don't mind if Len and Yuma look?" Meiko asked cheekily.

"OF COURSE I MIND!" Gumi yelled.

"K, k, fine," Meiko said, "Len, get up."

"Wha?" I said, "No, no, no, you're a girl Meiko."

"I'm too drunk to move," Meiko sighed dramatically, "It's all numb."

"C'mon, Lenny!" Rin grabbed my hand, dragging me up onto the table.

"SHAKE THAT ASS!" Dell yelled, "C'MON LEN! Shake what your mama gave you!"

"Dammit, Dell, are you drunk?" I yelled back.

"Very much so," Dell replied, slumping against the wall, "Not that matters, oh, man, I need a cigarette..."

"No way," Gumi said, "We don't need you smoking up the place."

She swiped the cigarettes from Dell's hands, pocketing them. Dell whined.

"K, fine, then Len's gotta dance."

"Len," Gumi said, sending me a sharp look, "Dance."

"Hell no-"

"DANCE!" Oliver ordered me, "Like so!" He shoved Haku off the table, before busting out into crazy dance moves.

"HELL NO." I repeated, shoving Oliver off the table.

"Dance, Lenny, dance!" Rin encouraged me. She'd definitely had a few too many. I sighed, giving up and dancing to the music. I ended up throwing my cares away and getting into the swing of it, not feeling embarrassed at all as I twirled and shook, even when Dell yelled embarrassing encouragements.

Even if I was going to forget everything, at least I could enjoy these moments.

-Time Skip-

The next morning

I woke up in a complete mess. I was sprawled over the table, Rin clutching to my arm, my head throbbing. Litter covered the entire floor, Dell slept with his cigarette packet in hand, and Meiko had fallen asleep with her sake. I was surprised to see Gumi had fallen asleep with her skirt up.

The sunlight filtered through the windows, illuminating our scene of chaos. The only people missing from the room were Yuma and Miku, who had probably, for once, gone somewhere else to get passionate.

Then I realised, it was morning. And I still remembered everything. I looked down at Rin, who snored lightly, clinging to my arm. I pressed my lips to her forehead lightly, holding her in my arms and knowing that as long as I had her, I'd never be lost.

**Thanks for reading! NOW, for the longer author notes ever! Thank you to the following users/guests for reviewing!:**

**MelancholiaShae: Thanks for being the first to review, buddy! Now... HURRY UP AND WRITE SOMETHING. (flails aimlessly).**

**Gamyie: I'm terrible with cliffhangers, and I'm so thankful you've stuck with this story since the beginning! Thank you so much!**

**MizuneMinamiki: My god... Where... Do I begin... You've written me loads of reviews, all novel-lengthed; you're an amazingly hilarious writer, with pretty decent story boards! You added me to a community, you've basically always been the first one to read my new chapters, and the fact you put a link to me on your profile is so sweet! :3 I can't thank you enough! **

**Booklover4evr13: I'm honoured you stayed up all night reading most of the series! (I stay up all night writing it... Heh.) Thanks for your support!**

**Candybear24: Thank you for reading and reviewing! (And letting my fan fic stay in your community... Heh...)**

**Guest: Thanks for taking the time to review! I'm happy you like the series! **

**Rinnykinzzz: I'm glad you like my headcanon for Len (I see him as kind of sweet and not really focussing on the dirty stuff). **

**PikoFanGirl: I'm glad your a Piko fan! (Aren't many of us from what I've seen...). I hope you liked the little bit in the bonus chapter!**

**Honeycloud of RiverClan: I thinks I has uncovered a whole secret Piko fan base, lol**

**TakoLukaIsYummy: First, lolwut? How would you know what TL tastes like? O_O. I'm glad you loved reading it! I loved writing it!**

**Kimki Mckell: Thanks for the cookie! And I don't think spazzing is good for your health, but the gesture is appreciated... I think? xD *noms cookie***

**Thank you all for reviewing! If you're a user, I sent you a pm with a reply to your review, or just thanking you for it! I decided I'd really thank everyone here. Now... For the list of people who favourited this story!:**

**Amaya Snow**

**Gamyie**

**Kimki Mckell**

**Lyric22**

**MizuneMinamiki**

**POKESPE-FAN**

**Rui'Echo-OrangeTsundere**

**TheSaku**

**Toki no Miko**

**Candybear24**

**Theunhappytwins**

**Thank you all for favouriting my story! It means a lot to me that you consider it one of your favourite stories! :3**

**Now, to the people who followed my series, so they got updates of my new chapters!:**

**Amaya Snow**

**Bznboy**

**Honeycloud of RiverClan**

**Kimki Mckell**

**Lyric22**

**MizuneMinamiki**

**Nekolatte**

**RiriaKazeKage**

**Rui'Echo-OrangeTsundere**

**Toki no Miko**

**Booklover4evr13**

**Candybear24**

**Terrorking13**

**Theunhappytwins**

**Thank you to everyone who read this fan fiction! With you, I have lots of views; and I know that it can't just be the people above, as even if they all read all the chapters, it wouldn't be the right number, meaning there are people who read this but don't follow, fave or review; and I'll always know that! **

**And lastly, a big, special thanks to MizuneMinamiki! For adding me to a community and promising to check out all future fics I write (if she knows anything about the thing they're on, lol). **

**I love you all! And now, I can update the status of this fan fiction to -COMPLETE-! **

**WITHOUT YOUR SUPPORT, I NEVER WOULD HAVE HAD THE DRIVE TO DO THIS SERIES!**


End file.
